Against OverReligious Cousins
by Robo Reader 21
Summary: Macross/nBSG AU. Set 20 months before the fall. The twelve colonies of Kobol start a war with Earth. Cylons are curious about the thirteenth tribe abilities. Both will learn their manners when dealing with the inheritor of the Protoculture.
1. Chapter 1

**Against Over-Religious Cousins**

I don't own Macross or Battlestar Galactica in any way, shape, or form.

But any OC that appear in story are mine.

* * *

**In Orbit above Picon**

**Picon Fleet Anchorage**

Through the window of the observatory center on the largest and most powerful military anchorage ever built by the people, Admiral Nathan Nagala looked down on the turquoise planet that is Picon, location of Fleet HQ. He admired and loved this planet, mainly because it is his birth planet, though people say they rather live on the capital planet Caprica he would never choose anywhere else to send all his days this world he sees from on high.

Then just on the corner of his left eye a Valkyrie_-_class Battlestar came into view flying in orbit between the planet and the anchorage. Nagala couldn't help but smile at the sight of the smallest of the Battlestar and its wings of Vipers and Raptors slowly move to join with the rest of the fleet. On the side of the ship, he could clearly see its name: _Battlestar Apollo._

He turns his head to the right, were the _Apollo_ is moving towards, to see the numerous ships of the fleet he has been appointed to lead. The many corvettes and destroyers, every type of Battlestar in the colonial military currently in service and at the top of the chain are three new type of ship, the _WARSTAR._

The Warstar is the newest addition to the colonial fleet, measuring at 1,956 meters in length, 832 meters wide and 674 meters in height it is the largest class in all of colonial history. With five times the gun batteries, seven times the amount of point-defense guns, three times the missile capacity and lunch tubes, and heavier armor than the Mercury-class Battlestar, the Warstar is the most powerful ship ever created with speed to rival that of a Mercury-class Battlestar.

Of course firepower isn't the Warstar only feature; like the Battlestars, the Warstar is a hybrid of a battleship and carrier. However instead of have only two flight pods like a Battlestar, it has four flight pods, two at the top and the bottom, and can hold 24 squadrons of 20 Viper fighters that can be deployed by one of its 186 Viper lunch tubes. In addition to Vipers, the ship holds 78 Raptor recon vehicles.

The Warstar is equipped with the latest in advance computer network technology, the best weapons and DRADIS systems, and a video view screen system. Though having the CIC deep inside the ship ensures the best safety to the commanding officers, many believe that it's best to be able to see what you're facing with the eyes the Gods have given you rather than to rely solely sensors. If successful, viewscreen will become standard on all colonial warships.

Nagala stared at the three ships, their names written on the port side; _Titan, Phoenix _and his flagship the _Leonidas_. These three ships were currently the only ones of their kind in operation with two more still in the yards; their production was rushed for the mission. What better way to launch them on their maiden voyage than in a holy crusade.

'With these three ships leading the charge victory is well within our hand' he thought.

"Admiral Nagala" a familiar voice brought him back from his thought. He turned to face his XO David Mendel who saluted to his commanding officer, "All commanders participating in the operation have arrived and are waiting in the War Room, sir."

With a crocket smile and a nod, Nagala said "Now we can begin the liberation of the thirteenth tribe." He placed a hand on his XO's shoulder and with pride in his voice, "The Gods will reward us handsomely for this." They proceeded down the hall to the War Room for the briefing.

The colonials believe that their thirteen tribe cousins have no idea of the location of their twelve worlds since they closed down traffic to the outer regions of their space as to not give away their home. Unknown to them, the "thirteenth tribe" have already located them over an hour ago.

* * *

**Asteroid Field **

**N.U.N.S. 78****th ****Scouting Party**

**Northampton Class Stealth Frigate, **_**Nightshade**_

"That quite a lot of tin cans" said Captain Jerid McMullen as he looks at the viewscreen zoomed in on the many warships in orbit of the planet that they learned, by the amount to radio traffic they intercepted, is the location of the Colonial military head quarters.

His scout party of two Northampton Stealth Frigates and one Valhalla III Stealth Strike Carrier was one of several small groups searching for the home system of the "Twelve Colonies of Kobal." Luck would have it his group discovered them.

"I count 500 battle ready ships plus troop transports" said one of the bridge staff. "Their also seem to be some non-combat ships that, according to their radio chatter, are mining, refinery, freighters, mobile repair, medical ships."

"_Sounds like they're planning to look for resources along the way_" said Captain Jessica Ansen over the communication screen from the Valhalla III _Vendetta_. Her long red hair and youthful features betraying the hard look in hers eyes that can only be obtain by years of battles.

"Looks that way" Captain McMullen said. "These guys are eager for war that they even went as far as to speed up the construction of those three big ships over there." He pointed to the three Warstars dock at the anchorage. "Have you been listening to all their transmissions?" he asked.

"_The Colonials have been very talkative"_ answered Commander Arnold Smith on the Northampton Frigate _Arc Light_. _"Besides some local broadcasts, we've picked up much chatter from both the civilians and military saying that 'The Thirteenth Tribe will be brought back to the arms of the Gods' or 'We will not fail in this holy crusade'."_ He lowered his head and shook it side-to-side slowly while rubbing his rugged beard, he couldn't believe what these people were saying. _"To say these guys are religious nuts is an understatement. We've already identified over 23 television channels dedicated to the worship and praying of their Gods, for crying out loud."_

"_We have learned a bit about Colonial society is like and let me tell you; even though they say that every human is equal and all are treated fair, these people can barely stand each other"_ said Captain Ansen. _"The planets of Caprica, Picon and Scorpia are the cream of the crop of all twelve planets, mainly because that the locations of the Presidential capitol, Military HQ, and their primary ship construction yard. Then there are the poorest of their 'equal' society: Aerilon, Gemenon, Canceron and Sagittaron, those worlds are just leeched for their resources. The other five worlds fall between being good-to-great to live in. If these people have their way, we would be treated as second or third-class people."_

Captain McMullen sighs as he takes everything he's been told. Straightening himself on his chair and looking back at his two companions on screen he says, "Not everyone in the military and the populous are all for this war. According to the radio chatter there are those who are afraid that the absences of 500 ships will leave them defenseless against a race called 'Cylons.' From what we learn they are a robotic race that the Colonials built decades ago for labor and soldiers for their inter-colony wars, until they rebelled and turned against their creators."

"_A plot taken right out of a movie, guess these guys never heard of the 'Three Laws of Robotic'"_ said Commander Smith. _"But from what you said they didn't win the war."_

"No one won the war. Both sides agreed to an armistice and the Cylons left colonial space beyond what the people call, obviously enough, the Armistice Line. The Colonials built a space station on the border to help keep relations with them as part of the deal. But while they send an ambassador, the Cylons never heed to the call." McMullen finished.

"_So they still have an enemy right next door and they think that they can spare 500 ships including their new heavy hitters" _Captain Ansen was dumbfounded by their act of arrogance. _"These guys are full of themselves" _she mutters under her breath yet could still be pick up on the speakers.

McMullen couldn't help but nod in agreement; he's had enough of this system and all the bull on the Colonials broadcast. "Order our recon group to return to ship. We've collected enough intel on these people to compile a more than adequate report back to HQ. Send them a message of what's coming and set a course to Tellus."

A chorus of 'Yes sir' resonated through the bridge and the speakers at end of the captains orders. As the last of the Recon-Valkyries were dock and spy satellites were deployed, the ships turned away from the Cyrannus system and activated their fold drives. They disappeared into a pink and purple portal, leaving the Colonials and Cylon spy satellites completely in the dark.

* * *

**Warstar **_**Leonidas **_**CIC**

**Picon Orbit**

**Two hours later**

Preparation is finished, the plan is set (though it's not like one was necessary), and the ships were ready for combat. Nagala observes his officers go about their duties. This was his first time in the Warstar's CIC, at least fully crewed. The first time he visited the CIC, the ship was under construction and much of the hardware wasn't even installed. Now however he had to control his excitement at just being inside this ultimate war machine, let alone commanding one.

'Wish I had more time to adjust to her' he thought as the adrenaline pump through every bit of his body.

"Admiral, all ships confirm ready to depart" said the comms officer.

"Give me ship-wide."

With a nod from the officer, Nagala took the headset. "Soldiers of the twelve colonies, we are about to embark on a righteous quest. Our brothers and sisters of the thirteenth tribe shall be liberated from the shackles of oppression by this N.U.N.S government and return to true path of the Gods. But make no mistake people, they can fight and there will be fatalities, but they are not invincible. We stood up against the Cylons and we can beat these tyrants. The Gods are on our side and with that victory is in our hand. So Say We All."

Throughout the entire fleet soldiers, officers, and pilots all shouted the same line. Nagala let himself smile before proceeding. "Let us begin. Spool the FTL."

"FTL spooled, jumping in 3...2...1."

Out in space, all ships in the liberation fleet disappeared in a flash of light. Their destination, Tellus, the closest planet were first contact was made.

They took their first step to what they think is an act of divinity, they believe that they are the greatest force in this war. They are about to learn the hard way the errors of their arrogance.

* * *

This story was inspired by the story "We are not your Thirteenth Tribe" by readerofgoodfanfiction. I thank him for the inspiration; x-overs like these are in short supply for some reason.

Please R&R

If any of the readers are knowledgeable in the mythos of Macross and Battlestar Galactica, please message me. I would like the assistance.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is all pretty technical that will establish much of the basic workings of the N.U.N.S. Government and preparations for the coming fight.

**Chapter 2 Know your enemy. **

**N.U.N.S. Colony Tellus, 2059**

**Tellus N.U.N.S. HQ Conference/War Room**

**Two days later**

Tellus, a small, rural farming colony in the Cygnus arm of the galaxy. It is the furthest away from the galactic core and the most outer of settlements. Discovered by a patrol fleet 14 years ago, the planet quickly became home to over 1million inhabitants from Earthling, Zolan, and Zentradi. Though small by normal standard, the planets lush environment and rich soil made Tellus one of the most bountiful of the outer colonies with much surplus to help maintain neighboring colonies.

By this time of the day, the field would be tended to, animals roaming through the open space and hustle and bustle of people going about their day would be easy to hear. But not today, today the people of Tellus were being evacuated off planet before the arrival of the Colonial "Liberation" Fleet. The evacuation started two days ago and already 68% of the civilians have been evacuated.

At Tellus N.U.N.S. HQ, the president of Tellus, Vensile Folum, a micronized Meltrandi, and Advisor Dumirel, her loyal aid and trusted friend, were currently in conference with the rest of the political and military staff of Tellus as well as the president of Earth and N.U.N.S Main HQ admiralty via fold communication.

Though a sovereign nation, the Colonials little crusade affect all colonies of Earth and colonization fleets, not just Tellus.

After the failed coup-de-tat by a power hungry Admiral; the UN Spacey government went through a radical change to form the New United Nation Spacy Government. The biggest was the new organization and decentralization of all human colonies and colony fleets. As such all settlements and fleets became their own sovereign nation while still a part of the N.U.N.S. government yet Earth has no direct control of matters and affairs due to the vast distances of each colony.

Another change is that the civilian government has more control over the military matters concerning the well being of the people. While the civilian leaders don't have total control; the military must keep them inform of all events and all requests for use of WMD-class weapons must also be approved by the President.

Finding her seat, president Vensile sat down while her advisor kept standing. "Now let's get everything to order" she said in a commanding tone desiring to get right to the business at hand. "How is the evacuation of the civilians and how long till the enemy gets within system" it was not a question.

"Madam President, the evacuation of the civilians is almost complete; we will be finished by the end of the day. As for the enemy, we estimate that at their current speed they will be here in eight days. Though eight days would normally seem like enough time to prepare a formidable defense I'm afraid that's not the case for Tellus" said one of the military commanders.

"It's because of our remote location and the fact that we're a simple farming colony isn't it" deduced Vensile.

"And the fact that initial surveys concluded much of this area of the galaxy is a cosmic wasteland. We don't even have colony fleets in the area, hell not even the blackmarket finds this suitable place to set up shop."

"Also that the surviving Zentradi records shows that much of the Cygnus arm has been devoid of both Zendradi and Supervision Army forces for over 363,028 years. Concerning why was not detailed but it's possible that the local forces fought to the end and destroyed one another or that they move from this area of the galaxy" inquired Advisor Dumirel.

"_Also our forces are stretched thin lately trying to search for the Galaxy Fleet. Which mean a lot of ships are concentrated at the galactic core region"_ said the Earth president. With a sigh he continued, _"We resolved the hostilities with the Vajra only a month ago and now we have a bunch of religious whack jobs on us."_

"The biggest difference is that the Vajra were powerful enough to be a great threat. Based on our little skirmish with the Colonials during first contact 3 months ago they are more of an annoyance at best to us."

First contact with the people of the Twelve Colonies happen completely by accident when a patrol fleet miss-fold to an unexplored region in the Cygnus arm. By a stroke of luck, weather good or bad, they defolded only a few thousand kilometers next to a colonial fleet searching for resources outside their home space.

The commanding officer of the fleet proceeded to a diplomatic meeting with his counterpart. The away party were quite perplex by what these Colonials stated as fact. But it was the Colonials that became enraged when the patrol captain revealed basic infromation about Earth that contradicts much of what they believe, especially the topic about religion. After the away party returned to their ship the Colonial began their attack and their first act of war justifying it by saying the people of Earth wandered off the path of righteousness and truth by the corrupt N.U.N.S.

Even though the Colonials were outnumbered 4-to-6, they believed that the size of their ships would be more than enough to defeat the much smaller ships of Earth. Their overconfidence became their undoing as they lost over 586 fighter and all but the lead ship that managed to jump away while only destroying 31 Valkyries and 3 ships.

"Still it's best not to underestimate them. They are humans and humanity has shown throughout the years that they are a very resourceful species" said Vensile.

"_Speaking of which, a topic for future discussion, based on the bodies we were able recovered we have learned that these people are 99.1% human. Some genetic deviations but these people are more genetically related to us than Zentradi. So the question is: how did a group of humans' windup this far from Earth?" _asked Terren president.

"That is a good question but like you said; one better left for another time. Though a better question for now is why the Colonials think we're some long lost siblings?" asked one of the political members.

"The intel retrieved by our scout party tells us that the people of the Twelve Colonies believe that humanity evolved on a planet called Kobol. There the thirteen tribes of man lived side by side with the 'Lords of Kobol', which are the same as the Greek gods of the Olympic Pantheon worshipped on Earth thousands of years ago, until some sort of environmental catastrophe caused the twelve tribes to leave Kobol in a 'Galleon', most likely a spacecraft, provided by these 'gods', which took them on a journey to find a new home, where they discovered the twelve colonies and settled in. That was over 2,000 years ago" explained Dumirel.

"Wait, you mentioned the twelve tribes, but what about this thirteenth tribe of theirs?"

"According to their religious text, the thirteenth tribe left Kobol 2,000 years prior to the catastrophe and went to settle on a planet located somewhere opposite of the direction they took called…Earth." she finished.

Looks of skepticism and confusion were on everyone's face. The Colonials think the people of Earth are some lost tribe of their people from 4,000 years ago and they believe the humanity evolved on this Kobol based on a bunch of old religious scrolls.

"This is just ridiculous! We may have lost a lot of our culture because of the Rain of Death of Space War I but we still have record and a few ruins of ancient civilizations that survived that devastating battle dating back thousands of years. Not to mention human and even proto-human remains uncovered by archeologist in the past. All these facts say one thing"

"Humanity evolved on our planet Earth" one of the commanders finished.

"Somehow I doubt that they will like to hear that"

"Is there more about their history?"

"They have only accumulated 4,000 years of history but most of that is obscured by religious mythology, but we do know that many of the Colonials thought that Kobol and thirteenth tribe was nothing but a myth until…" said Dumirel

"Until we made contact with them" Vensile finished for her friend.

"And now they think they have the right to lord over us because our ways are sacrilege to their eyes. These people might as well be the pinnacle of human arrogance. They need to realize that we are not their thirteenth tribe and even if we were, what make them think they can just come in and order us around after 4 millenniums apart."

"_I believe we've all learned enough about the Colonials history for the moment. I do believe we should move on to the subject of their military power wouldn't you say, Madam President." _suggested an admiral from Earth

"I agree." she said, "Captain." At her command two personal walked up to the table. One was obviously a N.U.N.S captain given his uniform. The other was wearing a standard issue military uniform.

"Captain Alphonse Carmine of the _Spitfire._" he saluted to his superiors.

"Lieutenant Itsuki Michijo, I'm the Chief Engineer of the _Spitfire._" he saluted as well.

"Wait a minute. _The _Captain Carmine, the one who made first contact with the Colonials?" asked a politician.

"The very same. Who better to tell us about the enemies strength than the one who fought them" explained president Vensile.

"Captain, before you being I need to ask something." asked a curious politician

"Ask way."

"Can you describe your encounter with these people; from first contact all the way to when it broke out in them deciding to attack your patrol fleet."

The captains eyes fell to the floor as he recalls the events of that day. So many people died under his command; he could never forget how the Colonials just attack his forces without even a declaration of war. Everyone told him that their death was not his fault, that he did everything by the book, followed the steps written down for first contact scenarios. They all say that their death are the Colonials to blame and to some degree he knows that's true but he couldn't help feel responsible for the lives lost.

Regaining his composure he proceeded his report, "When we defolded right next to the Colonial , we pretty much scared the hell out of them. Once we had a translation matrix set to their language, which is a dialect of ancient Greek and Latin, I proceed in establishing communication with them. When I told them we are from Earth, they erupted in cheers that everyone heard over the line. I then proceeded on a shuttle to their ship, the Battlestar Chronos, were I met with its commanding officer Admiral Micheal Tong. Once we were escorted to the meeting room he told us a brief summary of his peoples history; humanity living on Kobol side by side with the gods, the exodus to the twelve world, and the Cylon War which untied the planets against a common foe. He was very passionate about everything and could have sworn that there was a glee in his eyes when he said his people are reunited with their cousins from Earth.

While myself and my security escort were shocked and confused by this, Admiral Tong and his people were more taken back when I told them that we have never heard of Kobol or any tribes associated with it. But what appeared to have upset him was when I told him that we have evidence that states humanity evolved on Earth. As I continued with my summary, I notice that he was quite skeptical about some subjects like claiming we have hundreds of world and a population of practically 160 billion. But what they questioned was our claim to have encountered intelligent alien life.

At that point I realized that this was a case of 'seeing is believing' so I suggested that we move on. Tong then asked me a strange question but the look in his eyes spoke volumes on how important it was to him, as well as his present staff. He wanted to know our religion, if we still worship the gods. Needless to say, that's when the situation spiraled to the mess now. When I said that we stopped worshiping the gods of Greece he was referring to thousands of years ago everyone of them became greatly agitated. It wasn't until I mentioned that we have multiple religions consisting mostly of monotheism that broke the ice. They contained it but it was almost like a volcano erupted inside them. We had to return to our ship and fast, fortunately Tong had enough curtsey to let us leave without incident. But after that... well you know the rest." he finished retelling the events.

Everyone in the room listened intensely to every word the captain said. They didn't turn away, some didn't even blink, others forgot to breath.

"Thank you for telling us of your encounter. Please proceed to were you left of." said the politician, feeling sorry for even asking that question.

Carmine activates the holographic display installed in the table, projecting images of the four Colonial warships encountered in first contact.

"Based on what my fleet went up against and the intel from their home system, I can say with certainty that the enemy possess no form of energy-based offense or defense technology. They rely on kinetic energy projectile weapons, primitive missiles and nuclear weapons, lots of nukes. From what I've seen, they have no qualms in utilizing them whenever they think it appropriate. The yield range to about 50 megatons, weak by the standards of our reaction weapons but like I said they like throwing a lot around. For defenses they have pin-point machine gun turrets and they made their ships capable of taking a lot of punishment due to the thick armor.

Their main naval force are the Battlestars, a hybrid ship with the power of a battleship and the fighter capacity of a carrier ship. We have identified over five classes of these ships, two of which we've faced." The hologram above focused on two identical looking ships expect that one was smaller than the other. "The big one is a _Mercury _class, they are the standard fighting ship in their military; over 34 dual gun batteries, 100 or so point defense guns,and 28 missile launch tubes. These ships are as big as our _New Macross_ class." A third hologram of a _New Macross_ class ship appeared next to the one of the Colonial ship. They were similar in size, the Battlestar only slightly bigger.

"The smaller one is a _Valkyrie_ class, this ship is the smallest of the Battlestar, at only 700 meters long they exchanged size for speed but they made sure to not sacrifice its payload. Armed with over 16 dual batteries with another 35 fixed to the port and starboard side and are capable of firing missile to make up for having only 6 missile silos and a 100 point defense guns." A fourth hologram of a _Uraga _class carrier took its place side by side with the image of the _Valkyrie_; the Battlestar being the larger by its head.

"The other three are the _Hydra, Rampage, _and _Argo _class Battlestars and each has its own specialty. The _Hydra _class gives up much of its guns and missile for more fighter capacity, thicker armor and a lot of pin point guns. The _Rampage_ is nicknamed the _Gunstar _because of all the gun batteries and the _Argo _is called the _Missilestar _for the many launch silos and load capacity. Both sacrifice one offense system over the other and the amount of fighters they can carry. We weren't able to obtain everything on these ships, just the public facts.

The rest of their naval strength is comprise of Cruiser, Destroyer, and Frigate class ships that range from 900 to 300 meters, they also use a Corvette class but those aren't used in serious naval engagements nor have been reported to be part of the fleet heading here. We've also learned of their newest line of ships: the Warstar, an improved version of the Battlestar that bigger and better than anything else they have. From what we've seen so far they don't have the technology to create a stealth battleship like us."

He looks back at the control console and changes the holo images to show two different form of fighter crafts. "These are the Colonials fighter, the dart shaped one is called a Viper and box is called a Raptor. On a 1-on-1 or for that matter a 5-on-1 fight our fighters are far superior to these in virtually every way. However that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. While they may be small, about the size of a VF-1's nose module, in sheer numbers they can overwhelm our Valkyries and I have seen how they like send their fighters in droves. I must admit that it is impressive that these people made a fighter as small as a fan-jet; even if it can't transform, it could truly be a decent fighter if we made it to our specs. We do have an advantage, since I ordered that the pilots remain in fighter mode during the battle, the Colonials don't know our Valkyries true capabilities other than they're very fast and can carry a hell of a lot of missiles.

To summarize everything, the Colonials may have a decent military that can indeed damage us, they are not a threat to us. With that, I'll let my chief engineer continue." at that, Carmine took two steps back as Lieutenant Itsuki Michijo came to the stand. "Everyone, for the last 3 months my team and several others have been studying the salvaged Colonial tech from the battle and I have to say: its a complete mystery to me as to how they became a spacefaring civilization with their level of technology."

"As the captain said the Colonials haven't achieved energy-based technology and use kinetic based weapons like we did before the Macross landed on Earth. We've also learned that they don't have the advance alloys and metals like us but have a derivative form of titanium alloy that we'll call Neo-Titanium. Though stronger and lighter than normal titanium it is still sub-standard compared to our Hypercarbon and Energy Conversion Armor, but they make up for that by having thick amounts of it for the ships hulls.

Its when we looked at the intact Raptor we salvaged that we learned more about their technological level." He typed on the computer and an image of a stripped down Colonial Raptor appeared floating above the assembly table. During the first contact battle, shrapnel tore right through its canopy killing both pilots and leaving the machine floating in space for recovery. "First their radar system is virtually identical to the type used on our old submarines before the SDF-1 crashed. With this they would have a hard time detecting or targeting our stealth ships unless they concentrate on one area of space. And their computer system... well let me just say that my son's home computer has more processing power than this things. Hell, the computers we had before OverTechnology were more powerful than what they have.

But what caught our interset was as we were stripping its, we found that they made the computer overly complex with multiple systems all jumble together in an attempt combine multiple anti-virus software and different techniques to prevent electronic warfare, some of its main system were also non-networked. Its like they are afraid of someone trying to hack them so they did everything they could to make sure that doesn't happen.

Now the engine is as crude as it is unnecessarily bulky." The image above chance to the stripped out engine of the Raptor. "Its a form of combustion engine using a mineral that produces half a million gigajoules of energy a kilogram, a mere 1/12 of what our thermonuclear reaction engines of our Valkyries produces. The engine is a hap-hazard design combining the parts of an aerospike engine with an afterburner without bothering to finish or make obvious improvements, as it stands its nowhere near as efficient as our reactors. We've found a number of weak spots that a well placed shoot would cause the entire fuel line to ignite thereby destroying the Raptor.

But what is really fascinating is that the vehicle is equip with an internal fold drive... well maybe fold drive isn't the right name for this. The basic principal is the same: fold space between two different points to allow near instantaneous travel through a corridor. The difference is that when we fold the location of a spacecraft is swap with super dimension space and then swaps super dimension space with the space at the destination were the ship is deposited light years away, the Colonials FTL drive 'forces' or 'punches' a ship into a corridor of space were it then gets expelled at the destination.

We've decided to see how well the drive works by retrofitting it into a Ghost Fighter, making sure our technology doesn't affect its normal performance. It's maximum range was 5.1 light years in 3 second as a comparison our Valkyrie's fold boosters can cover the same distance in less than half a second. Also that it suffers from dislocations as it appeared 5 miles off its intended spot which doesn't happen to us at that range. After the test, we learned that the drive causes structural stress in sections of the fighter resulting in micro-fracture that according to simulations get worse and worse the more the drive is used which would end up damaging the ship beyond repair or destroying it.

In other words its nothing but a cheap counterfeit knockoff of a fold drive, but I must admit that if we can improve on the design it can easily be equip internally on our fighters not as a form of travel but combat."

At his suggestion many military commanders thought of the use of such a device and they were impressed with the idea. Fighters folding around the battlefield causing confusing in the enemy would make fights much easier and decrease the number of casualties.

"However from what I understand, multiple jumps without letting the drive cool down will cause it to burn out and become useless. To conclude, its like a majority of Colonial engineering is analog while the rest is barely digital based on what we have to study on." He moved back to were his captain was standing.

The officers and politician didn't say anything as they let all the information the captain and lieutenant revealed. "How did these people become a spacefaring society?" mumbled a politician to no one.

Her question was heard and Dumirel decided to answer, "In the aftermath of the Cylon War, the Colonials viewed advance technology as more of a blight than a blessing because it was computer technology that created the robotic race and they regressed back to more primitive and hand-on level. After almost forty years they started to rediscovered the technology they threw away. It's logical to assume that they were more advance in the past if they could make an army of robot AI."

"Speaking of which, do we know anything about these Cylons? Where they are?"

President Vensile activates the display showing a recording taken from one of the many spy satellites spread around the area. The image showed three ships, two of which had two Y-shaped hulls attached at the center by a single pylon giving it a star shaped look. The other looks like a giant chapel still in the making.

"These were taken a few hours ago, though the hull is different the design of the two ship resembles that of a Cylon Baseship according to the intel we've gather at the Cyrannus system and the other ship is most likely a new class. Their current course takes them right to Tellus and by their speed they'll be here in half the time the enemy fleet arrives" she said.

"Three ships isn't exactly what I call a strike force. A recon group, sent to gather intel about us... during the fight yet to come with the so called Liberation Fleet." said the military adviser.

"Exactly what I thought. We are going to have an audience so I say we give them a show." said the president as the entire party nodded in agreement. "How many ship do we have for defense."

All the military staff stood to attention as they began making their report.

"Madam President as of this moment we have the 12 scout fleets from the search of the Colonials system currently in orbit."

"Also in orbit are 6 fleets of patrol ships setting up orbital laser satellites."

"We currently have 74 ships making up the defense fleet ranging from Valhalla III Strike Carriers, Saratoga II Fleet Carriers, Guantánamo Stealth Carriers, Northampton Stealth Frigates, Uraga Escort Battle Carriers, Haruna Stealth Cruisers, and even the new Dulfim Aircraft Carrier and Deneb Battleship."

"All mecha complement combine for a total of 3557 of Valkyries, Destroids, and Ghost Fighters."

"Seventy-four ships ranging from 150 to 550 meters isn't enough to beat 500 ships most ranging from 1000 to almost 2000 meters, even with our superior technology." stated the president.

"We've received word that the 548th Patrol Fleet accompanied by the 94th Supply Fleet is set to rendezvous with us in 24 hour. They are bringing us a supply of reaction weapons to counter against the enemies nukes."

"We've also called S.M.S. They'll be here in four days."

"_Things has been rather troubling on this side with Anti-UN forces taking advantage of our thin defenses since the search and rescue of the Galaxy Fleet started. But as soon as we can we'll send a fleet your way."_ said the Earth admiral.

The president stood up from her chair and stared down at all of the government personal. Her eyes hard and strong like the warrior she once was. "Time is running short, our enemies will be on our front door in only eight days and I plan to give them one hell of a welcome that they'll never think about messing with our lives again. Is that **UNDERSTOOD.**" It wasn't a question.

"YES MAM." shouted in unison.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed my latest update. I apologize for any grammar errors especially when it come to past and present tense. Next chapter will focus on the Colonials side. Don't worry there will be action come chapter 4.

Admiral Tong and the Battlestar Chronos are from the comic Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus. His first name Micheal is my idea as we never find out his full name.

Please read and review. And for those who know all of the military officers in the BSG mythos, please message me there names in order by rank from Admiral to down. Character will appear in future updates.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 On the Other Side**

**Colonial Liberation Fleet**

**Warstar _Leonidas, _CIC**

**Arrival to Tellus: 5 days**

The darkness of space was illuminated by several flashes of light which faded just as fast as they appeared.

In place of the flashes were several ships of various size; the Liberation Fleet of the Colonies of Kobol.

At the head of the fleet was the mighty flagship, its name written on the side of the hull: Warstar Leonidas.

"We have reached our destination. All ships accounted for. Drives are cooling down." said the DRADIS operator.

"Admiral, the Battlestar Orion and the Siegestar cruiser Ares are reporting trouble with their FTL coils. It will take them a few minutes to fix" said the communication officer.

"Tell them to make it fast. We got rid of the deadweight so I don't want to be slowed down by maintenance issues" barked Admiral Nagala.

Just yesterday, the fleet discovered a lifeless system rich in tylium and various other metals. The non-combatant ships broke off and started setting a mining station.

Since then Nagala has been pushing the fleets engines near their safety limits, trying to get to the planet of the thirteenth tribe.

"Admiral are you sure it was OK to leave the civilians alone this far away from the colonies" asked the XO.

"Not at all. If it were up to me, they would never have come in the first place. We still have plenty of resources in our home system. Adar is just doing it to please his creditors and investors. The distance alone will have us establishing stations along the path." said Nagala obviously annoyed that he had to carry a bunch of civis with the liberation fleet. But he did see a silver lining in this, "On the bright side it means we can establish military outposts for future expansions."

"Still I can't help but feel a bit uneasy about the colonies. With us bringing a 7th of our whole fleet in this crusade, I can't help but think we left all those people without any proper defense. What if the Cylons try to take advantage of all the missing ships?" XO Mendel said with a worried look.

"I understand your concern, but the Cylons have not been seen or heard of for practically 40 years. While I am curious to know what goes on over that line, we have over 6 times the amount of ships we had in the beginning of the Cylon War and our forces are kept ready for anything while we are gone. They are machines so logically they know that attacking us is a fools errands." he was confident to the point of beyond arrogance. So sure of his peoples strength that he, if not all the colonies, thought that they are the most powerful force in the galaxy.

"Besides, this is going to be a quick operation. Like I said, lives will be lost, as all on this holy voyage know, but they will be within acceptable parameters." Nagala didn't have a bit of remorse in his voice, as a soldier he knew every battle has casualties, "The gods will guide us to victory against these heretics and once we acquire their technology we might get the ability to see what those chrome-heads are up to."

There were other motives behind the invasion of the thirteenth tribe systems. The public reason is to liberate the long lost tribe from the tyrannical rule of this "Spacy" government and unite them with their bothers and sisters of the twelve colonies and show them the truth of their history. Those in the admiralty wanted something more: weapons technology.

Upon reviewing the battle with the survey fleet from the Vipers and Raptors gun camera footage the Colonials were left in complete awe and shock. While the ships were small compared to the Colonials warships, the weapons they had were like nothing they have ever seen. Beams of pure energy and death cutting and melting through the armor like butter, it was unbelievable yet the evidence was right in front of them and there's the remains of the Battlestar Chronos.

Scientists couldn't even being to theorize how such weapons could exists, sure they had pulse lasers but those are used in training battles with Vipers and Raptors, to consider them weapons is a joke.

The only one to come with a logical answer was Gaius Baltar, he concluded that the thirteenth tribes advance technology was likely due to the fact that they chose to embrace that technology as opposed to the twelve colonies which after the Cylon War ran away from technological advancements for fear of a repeat of the Cylons. Also if they take into account the myth that the thirteenth tribe left Kobol 2000 years prior to the twelve tribes exodus then it's not hard to believe that they were more advance.

Though many, particularly the more religious members, weren't all that convince about the thirteenth power, saying that the only reason they lost that first battle was because Tong got overconfident and underestimated the enemies capabilities.

"Though it cost us three ships and a number of fighters cause of Tong's carelessness, we learned a lot about the thirteenth tribes military strength. Once we liberate the Earther's colony and learn the locations of any other colonies in the area we can choke Earth to submission and they will surrender. Thus reuniting all thirteen colonies as declared in the holy scriptures" said Nagala.

"Speaking of Tong, whose idea was it to give him command of the _Phoenix _anyway?" asked the XO.

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**Warstar _Phoenix, _Pilots Briefing Room**

He rewind the recording again and pressed play.

There was no sound as the KEW rounds and beams of energy lashed out at one another. Then the ships came on screen. The intimidating form of a Strikestar destroyer unleashing a broadside assault against the two small, golden arrowhead shaped warships of the accursed Thirteenth Tribe. He has seen this footage many times over trying to process how two ships the size of a Libran civi science ship could not only stand up to but defeat a ship more than three time its size.

Turning his attention back to the screen he sees once again the intense damage done to the destroyer as the green energy beam pierces and melts its armored hull exposing many decks to the vacuum. He could see the men and women getting sucked out along with whatever was on those deck at the time.

While the destroyer was being gutted, the two arrow heads were taking minimal punishment than they normally would for ships their size. If one looks closely the reason becomes clear; as the rounds hit, or about to hit, the ship a green field appears around the craft, an energy shield. This revelation sent tsunamis down on the most brilliant scientists in the twelve colonies.

As the battle waged on the Strikestar fired a volley of eight nukes on one ship. Point-defenses destroyed a mayoralty of nukes but three scored a direct hit turning the ship into a massive fireball. The victory for the destroyer was short lived as the second ship scored a hit at the fusion reactor causing it and the ship to blow.

"Admiral Tong"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his name. As fast as he could he stood up from his seat and went for his sidearm only to stop half way from drawing it when he saw the individual.

"Oh, Giles. Sorry I didn't hear you come in." he said as he regained a calm composure and started breathing again.

"As long as you didn't shoot me I'm fine" he said with a spark of humor in his voice which soon turned to worry. "But you sir look like you've spend the night in a Tauron bar."

After an uncertain amount of time, Tong inspected his own uniform to find it all wrinkled and sweaty. It was now that he noticed the stench emanating off him. He needed a shower. If he had a mirror around he'd probably look like frak.

"That bad isn't it" he replied with a low if not dark tone.

Giles knew were he stood, so he decided to change the subject. He looked over the Admiral's shoulder to see the screen.

"Reviewing the battle again, Admiral" that wasn't a question. He knew before he came in the room what the Admiral was doing.

He shrugged his shoulders in defeat, "Yeah, it's like every time I see this battle I learn something new about those damn heretics." He lowered his head as if he just faced a aggravating defeat, "And every time I learn something new it feels like victory is that much harder to grasp." He raised his head and looked at at his XO square in the eyes, "I believe we will win but not as smoothly as Nagala made it out to be."

"I agree with that. I wouldn't be surprise if we lose a quarter of the fleet." he looked at the screen. "Still can't believe what they did."

The Admiral turned around and retook the seat he was occupying.

"How many times have you seen this footage" he said.

Everyone that's apart of this operation all saw this footage from the battle months ago as soon as they were selected for the operation. From the Admirals to even the most minor of deckhands. No one asks if they've seen the recording but how many times have they seen it.

"Three times" said Giles taking a seat next to the Admiral. "The second time was to make sure my eyes weren't trying to frak me over. The third was for good measure."

The recording resumed demonstrating the incredible might of the lost tribes little ships.

"Still can't believe that they are so advance that they can make such small ships have that much power" he said with awe in his voice.

"Its not just the ships" interjected Tong as he paused the footage capturing three blue, slightly blurred images flying in standard attack formation. "Their fighters are just as impressive."

Besides the ships, the thirteenth tribes fighters proved a force to be reckon with.

"Hard to believe that their fighters can be so large yet possess such maneuverability and capable of active stealth even during fight" said Giles, "DRADIS could barely register them and even the pilots had trouble getting a missile lock until they got close up to them. Even then they had little effect on that armor."

"Speed and armor aren't their only quality" said Tong, "The firepower they carried was incredible; energy guns and guided missile systems." He took a moment as the events of that day replayed in his head; the screams and panic voices over the wireless as well as the small explosions happening around him in the Cronos CIC. "Because of them many good soldiers lost their lives, loyal believers of the Gods and good friends." He lowered his head not in shame but remorse, "I will avenge you, Benton."

Alexander Benton was Tong's former XO and friend from his days in the academy. During the first contact battle shrapnel from a console speared into Benton's face, he was dead before he realized it. Nicholas Giles is his replacement.

He looked back at the screen and forwarded the video pressing pause when the image of the flagship appeared, the ship of Captain Carmine. Though he couldn't read the language on the hull but he made sure to memorize it.

Because of his recklessness he is a disgrace to the people of the colonies, at least to the Admiralty and those in the higher echelon of the government. Thanks to a few alteration about first contact disclosed to the public he's now the "hero" of the colonies for discovering the long lost thirteenth tribe and figurehead for the crusade. As such he was given command of the Warstar _Phoenix._

But he didn't care. All he wants is revenge.

"I will kill that mother fraker" his voice filled with venom.

**Battlestar _Valkyrie,_ Commanders quarters**

"FRAK" shouted a rather drunk and annoyed female pilot.

"You sound pissed" commented an elderly man with a small smile on his harden face.

"I am pissed" she yelled out, "I can't believe those smug, egocentric, mother fraking assholes. So I knock out two of his teeth, that drunk bastard was hitting on me I just defended myself."

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is one of the best Viper pilots in the Colonial military, but she is also hot-headed and cocky who challenged authority and charged with multiple accounts of insubordination. Two weeks prior to the departure of the Liberation Fleet, Starbuck was charged with assaulting a superior officer. The Admiralty didn't know weather to finally discharge her from service for all the numerous headaches shes given or just suspend her from the operation due to the fact that she was in the right for once. They decided to chose the one punishment that she would consider the cruelest.

"BACK UP" she yelled, "They put me on fraking backup sorties. I'm the best pilot in the whole Gods damn fleet for frak sakes."

"Your also the most rash, obstinate, defiant, arrogant frak up I've ever had the displeasure of knowing" said a another man with a bald top and white hair on the side and back of his head as he take another drink of ambrosia.

"Frak you, Sir" she said with sarcasm in the last word trying to get under his skin.

And it work, "One of these days Starbuck I'm going cut..." he was interrupted before finishing.

"Saul, your falling right were she wants you" said the first man as he adjusted his glasses.

Resigning from his attempt to threaten the pain in the ass pilot, he finished the drink, let out a low grunt and turned to his commander and friend, "How the hell do you put up with her, Bill" he asked.

The old Cylon War veteran just smiled and said "Patience. Something you always lack Saul."

"Patience I have" said the XO before taking another gulp of alcohol, "But I have the patience of a human being. You have the patience of a God."

All three let out a small chuckle that lasted for a second. In Saul's case it was more of a grunt.

"So Kara, how's Zak" injected Adama trying to change the subject.

Kara stop for a second, the rim of the glass touching her lips, before replying, "He's doing well. The docs say he will be back on his feet in about 2 weeks and that was the day before we left which means he should be out in three days."

A week before the departure there was an accident while preparing for the invasion. During a mock battle pilot error caused the destruction of two fighters, no one was killed but the pilots were hospitalize and were removed from the mission. One of the pilots is Lieutenant J.G. Zak "Nugget" Adama.

"Glad to hear that." said Adama, "Wish I could have visited him at the hospital but..." he was cut off.

"He understands why you couldn't come" she reassured him, "Said he didn't want you to just stop everything just to see him, especially with a the preparation you had to supervise."

"I'm glad" he said, his voice was deadpan but he had a smile on his face, it spoke volumes to those who knew him.

"Speaking of the Nugget" said Tigh, "You two finally decided to have a wedding yet."

Kara and Zak have been engaged for almost two years. Zak had entered the academy and Kara was his pilot instructor, they fell in love soon after meeting.

Kara's expression turned melancholy, "He told me that he wants our wedding so memorable that we will always remember it even after we become old and senile" she said, a small smile appeared on Adama's face, "In the hospital he decided to have the wedding... on Earth" she finished, Adama's smile faded.

With a grunt Tigh said, "Romantic as it is premature. We haven't even started the offensive yet and he already thinks we are going to win."

"Alot of people believe we've already won" said Adama, " They think we can't lose, that it is the will of the gods that will give us victory... just like the Cylons."

"Damn all that propaganda recruitment crap" said Tigh with an irritated grunt, "We didn't win the war, no one did. We came to an armistice, that's not a victory just a damn ceasefire."

"As much as I would love to reminisce ancient history with you two I think I'll pass and log some time in the simulator. Back up or not I don't wanna lose my edge before the big fight" said Starbuck finishing her drink in one gulp before leaving the two to themselves.

As soon as the door closed Tigh said, "Ain't she eagerer for a fight" he took another drink before continuing, "One of these days shes gonna get more than she thinks she can handle."

"I hope, for her sake, that day isn't too soon" said the old man in his usual, almost monotone voice.

For those who didn't know him well, Bill Adama is a hard man to read. He always carried the same deadpan look on his face, only breaking it for few individuals or during the times his emotion get the best of him. But Saul Tigh has known the old man since before his hair changed color and started falling off his head, he knew what to look for to read his emotions and sometimes his thoughts. And he wasn't happy. Not angry. But not happy.

He put the drink down on the table but didn't let go.

"What do you think of all this Bill?" he asked with a low if somewhat depressing tone.

"I think we're making a big, FRAKING mistake" he replied, those rare times when he showed his emotions clearly, "It's obvious that Tong fired the first shoot and Adar's just doing this so that he can get the religious on his side" he took another shot to clear his throat, "So what if they don't worship the Gods, they're still human. It like we've gone back to the days of the Colony Wars but it feels more like the Cylon War only this time we're the bad guys."

They both remained silent. They hated this operation, out of the few that had reservations they were the most vocal without being charged with insubordination, trying to convince the government with the logic of the Cylons still at large. Needless to say they ignored their statement and proceeded with the crusade.

Saul reached for the bottle to refill his glass. He noticed that there was no weight in it, it was empty. With frustrated sigh he said, "Something tells me we're gonna need a lot more alcohol."

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**Battlestar _Valkyrie, _Pilots Locker Room**

Kara made her way to the locker room, or rather stumbled her way to the locker room trying to fight off the effects of the ambrosia running through her body.

After what felt like miles of corridors and hallway she made it to the locker room. As soon as she entered she lost her balance.

A friendly arm saved her face from meeting the floor.

"A little early for you to be THIS drunk, don't you think Starbuck" said a kind and slight amused voice of a female.

She looked up to see the smiling, almost laughing, face of her friend Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii.

With a smile as cocky as her attitude Starbuck replied, "Drunk. If you think this is me drunk then you don't know me well at all", regaining her balance she continued, "When this is over, you, me and the local bar, then you'll see me drunk."

"I'll hold you to it", replied Sharon with a friendly smile, "Gonna go log some time on the simulator. You gonna come."

"Actually going to head down there too", she pointed at her locker with her thumb, "Just got to go visit my closet and I'll be on my way."

"Well you better shape up. Your last scores weren't exactly something to smile on. Whats the matter, the Earth fighters too much for the 'best pilot in the fleet'", said Sharon with a playful tone and a grin on her face.

"Keep talking Boomer, you'll be eating those words soon" she said with an underlined hostile tone.

Deciding that shes teased her friend enough, Boomer made her way to the simulators while Starbuck went to her locker to grab some supplies.

A pack of cigarets and a lighter, a flask with her favorite drink, three protein bars and a small towel.

_'Is it too expensive to add an air condition unit in those thing' _she thought grabbing the towel.

Her expression suddenly changed to a solemn, slightly melancholy feel as she searched around the area if anyone was inside and any coming in the room. Satisfied with her survey, she reached inside her old fleet issued duffel bag and took out two small figurines shaped as Aphrodite and Artemis.

"Lords of Kobol please hear my prayers" lowering her head in appeal as she prayed to the figures in relative silence.

Her wish is simple: Survive.

Like all those taking part in the operation she too saw the footage of the battle with the Terran ships. Though their firepower was something of awe, what really grabbed her attention were, obviously, the fighters.

Their speed, maneuverability and agility, a complete contrast to their size and then there is amount of weapons just one can carry. It was truly a challenge of her skills she has been desiring since she graduated Pilot Academy with the top scores.

That excitement quickly changed after a few hundred hours on the simulator.

All simulators were reprogrammed based on the data collected during the battle to better prepare the pilots in combating the enemy fighters, and they were a challenge.

Though she still had one of the highest scores logged, they were amateurish compared to her previous scores back when all she had to fight were simulations of Cylon-War ear Raiders.

She remembered something she told all the nuggets back when she was an instructor in the Academy.

"_A simulation is a frakking jog in the park compared to the real deal."_

And these simulations were giving her a run for her money; so the big question on her mind is how does the real deal compare?

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**Warstar_ Leonidas, _Top Port Side Flight Pod**

"...get that equipment attached now before I..."

"...just recalibrate targeting system so my aim..."

"...you done checking the computer system..."

"...I will take down more fighters than you..."

Walking down the long mouth of the hanger bay he could hear the many orders, comments and conversation the deckhand, mechanics and pilots were having.

Almost every pilot was excited about the upcoming battle and in a way he couldn't blame them.

All the time and cubits spent on weapons and training on simulations and mock battles and they never had a chance to test the results of all their hard work. The only time anyone got some action was due to pirates and terrorist and those last at most ten minutes.

Though he had reservations about going to war with fellow humans he couldn't stop his heart from beating twice as fast at the chance to finally to test his skill in actual combat situation.

He was taken out of thought when he arrived at his destination, his Viper.

He stared at it for a few seconds before running his hand on the armor from the nose down the back stopping under the canopy where his name and call-sign is imprinted: "_Lee Adama _-_Apollo-_".

Then his eyes moved upward at the attachment hanging above his craft.

"Here to check on your bird, Captain" a voice came from behind the fighter.

The chief mechanic in charge of his Viper took notice to his presence and made himself known.

He straightened up and said, "How is she doing."

With a smile the mechanic said, "In perfect shape, sir. Engines is tuned and working at 100%, cannons are clean and calibrated to the smallest margin, ejector seat is working and computer system are perfect with the latest firewalls and anti-virus programs the brightest minds on the colonies could come up with. Although I wish we waited until the new CNP upgrade was finished."

"What about that?" the captain directed to the attachment above his Viper.

"Your not the first one to ask about it" he said a small smile on his face, "All onboard computer and avionics have been updated to compensate for the additional equipment. Just don't fly in the atmosphere with it on. If this thing does as good as the big brains say than it will be a welcome addition against the Thirteenth Tribe's fighters." There was pride in the last sentence.

His outward appearance remained professional but Lee's mood turned solemn at the bravado of the mechanic. The small display he been witnessing ever since the colonies learned of the Thirteenth Tribe and their ways.

"I do mind if I ask you something. Off the record" he said.

"If it's off record, if you ask me if Nagala is a slave driver I'll say that is the biggest understatement ever" replied the mechanic with small humor.

It got a reaction out of Lee as a smile broke out on his face.

_'So true' _he thought, "What do you think of all this? Us going to war with the Thirteenth Tribe, with humans. Give me an honest assessment" he asked.

The mechanic let out a sigh and scratched the back of his head, "Honestly sir I just don't understand it all. Why does the Thirteenth Tribe forsake what is right? Our most sacred scrolls says that all the tribes are destined to unite as one yet they refuse. Refuse to accept the truth and what should be. I just hope they do the right thing and surrender."

_'Sounds like Zak' _thought Lee.

"HEY, CAPTAIN ADAMA" came a loud and obnoxious voice that was somehow louder than all the commotion going on on deck.

Coming up to Lee were two obvious pilots. One was waving his hand up high holding a flask that naturally had a potent drink in it. The second pilot looked a little exasperated as he shocked is side to side, from his teammates actions no doubt.

Lee straighten out and with a tone signifying his position as CAG, "LTJG. Nails, is that any way for a Colonial pilot act in the presences of a commanding officer."

The LT just smiled and said with an accent that was from Aerilon, "Normally no sir, but since I'm of duty at the moment, and so are you, I don't have to follow all of the proper military etiquette. All that stuff is a big pain in the arse."

Lee gave out a small scoff as he shocked his head side to side. Then he turned his sights to the LT companion, "Keeping Nails in check again, LT Byron."

"Sir, I should get a frakking medal for all the times I have to drag his sorry ass out of a fight."

"Or the many times you got dragged into a fight cause of me", injected Nails, "Drink sir" he said to Lee.

He could smell the liquor coming out of the flask. It smelled like an Leonis concoction, that colony makes many of the well known ambrosia.

He respectfully decline his offer by shaking his head and moving the flask out of the way.

"Ah well" said Nails in a mocking disappointed voice, "But your gonna have to have a drink with us after we've invaded the Thirteenth Tribes colony planet. A celebration worthy of the Gods for our noble deed."

"What makes you so sure we will win" countered Byron being the realist, "For that matter what makes you think you'll survive to see the outcome of the battle. Your score on the simulator doesn't inspire confidence on your chances of survival."

"Your one to talk. Your scores aren't something to write home about either." Nails fought back.

"Exactly" said the LT like his point was etched in stone at Nails comment, "No ones score is what I would call impressive, just satisfactory. That goes for even the top pilots in the Fleet. I'm all for bringing our lost brothers and sisters back into the arms of the Gods but anyone in the right mind can tell that we aren't prepared to take them on. And yet the Admiralty, Quorum, and even the President -which in all honestly doesn't surprise me at all- says that we will be able to conquer with minimal loss. I don't see that scenario playing out in my head."

Lee understood perfectly what Byron was saying. He not only hated the fact of fighting other humans but he didn't see this as an easy war, if the higher-ups were even calling it that.

"You know what your problem is Byron; you worry way too much. With the armada we're bringing, the Earthers would be crazy NOT to surrender at first sight. You my friend are in need of a drink, something help you relax. Lets go find some. See you latter captain." And with that Nails walked away to find more alcohol dragging poor LT Byron with him.

Lee was left next to his Viper in contemplation of what those two and the mechanic said, the former having left to work on some other bird while talking to the latter. Of the three only one was looking at this whole Godsdamn war with a sense of rationality like himself but all three were in agreement in bringing the people of Earth into the Colonials sphere of influence. To destroy a societies culture and identity, and make them look like another.

How he hated the thought.

Lee Adama summed up his inner turmoil in one word.

"Frak."

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**Caprica City, Caprica**

**Presidential Complex**

**Arrival at Tellus: 3 days**

Mornings on Caprica City were always filled with noise; such is the fate of the political, cultural, and economic center of the Twelve Colonies. One of the most populated planets in the colonies it is also one of the richest planets as it is home to the governing body of all twelve planets.

A metropolis of skyscrapers and building of various size, non was bigger and eloquent than the presidential complex overlooking the city.

On the highest office was the president of the colonies, Richard Adar, who has just arrived from his nice, expensive mansion.

When he walked into his office he noticed the hot, fresh coffee made from the beans of Gaoth's field on Aerilon. He never understood how such a brash and obscene colony could produce such good coffee. Next to the coffee was the situation update report on the crusade fleet and survey civilian fleet, just as his good looking secretary said it would be.

Once seated he took a nice drink as he read the report. From the time stamp it arrived late last night and the report is three days old but showed promise. The new system discovered was lifeless but it did hold a large cash of tylium as well as titanium, tungsten, cobalt, steel, and a nice vein of palladium and small deposits of gold.

A smile worked its way on Adar's face, _'This will please many of my creditors and investor'_ he thought with a smug, conceited smile on his face, _'They may be nothing more than parasites but with them in my pocket my reelection is assured.'_

He turned his chair around to see a spectacular view of Caprica City still holding the report and coffee.

"I sure would hate to lose such a nice view" he said with a look of supremacy.

Focusing back to the report on hand of the status of the Liberation fleet, if the astronomers were correct they will arrive at the Earthers colony in about three days.

"Excellent" he said, a smug look and smile of supremacy plastered on his face, "If all goes as planned not only is my reelection a complete shoe-in but I will be remembered as the greatest president of the twelve... no thirteen colonies of Kobol."

For many months now the peoples' opinion on Adar has wain in favor of a new president. Some have even asked publicly for his resignation.

They didn't appreciate his militaristic solutions to such simple problems. Especially after the way he handled the situation on Aerilon.

He needed a way to unite the people under, he needed a scapegoat to ensure his future presidency, a crisis. And what better crisis than a war.

Problem was finding a target of value for the military, especially the more religious officers like Nagala. The Cylons were out of the question regardless of how much the people hate them and the monotheist cult in the colonies is virtually extinct with the exception of a few small believers still clinging to their one god left to die out on their own.

It looked like his plan was destined to fail before it even got started.

Then came the discovery of the Thirteenth Tribe, the perfect target for the people.

When word about the initial battle reached the Colonial Government many couldn't believe what was reported, until the Battlestar Chronos limped it's way to the Scropia Shipyards.

After hearing the report straight from Tong about the meeting with the Terran commander, he immediately saw this as the perfect opportunity to rally the people under him given the reaction of many of the military and political personal to the simple fact that their long, lost siblings have turned away from the path of the Gods and allow the practice of monotheist.

He could have only imaging the reaction of the people when he called for that fateful press conference those weeks ago.

And how he underestimated their outburst when he disclosed the "truth" about the Thirteenth Tribe.

Needless to say, everything went as planned so far. All he had to do was wait for the report of victory and successful invasion of the Earthers colony world and acquisition of their technology and navigation charts so the second the second stage of his plan can begin.

Adar was taken out of his near trance when he notice the lack of liquid entering his mouth via his cup.

"Time for a refill."

He got up from his comfortable chair and made his way to his coffee maker. The moment he was about to pour some fresh coffee into his mug it cracked right down the middle as the end wasn't being held by the handle fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

"What the hell!" yelped Adar as he looked at the end of his cup he was still holding confused and puzzled then looking down at what remains of the other half, "This was my favorite mug."

He walked up to one of the counters and picked another coffee cup he has ready in the events of important appointments before calling his secretary to send the janitor to clean up the mess.

888888888888888888888888888

**Outskirts of Mangala, Canceron**

Night in Mangala was always quite.

Though the planet is one of the most populous of the colonies, it was also one of the poorest. Even though its a popular tourist spot cause of its beaches, Canceron is well known for its large slums especially in the capital of Hades and Mangala.

Outside of the city near a mountain range lies an abandon mine long since dried out of resources. A cloaked figure made its way inside the cave. Anyone else would have been lost in the dark maze upon the first turn without a flashlight, but the figure has traversed the labyrinth many times, memorized every turn that illumination wasn't all that necessary.

The figure reached its destination, a dead end. But the figure wasn't dissolved; walking to the corner, the figure pushed a concealed switch in the old lumber scaffolding. Part of the stone wall started moving further in and then moved to the side reveling another passage way. The figure entered as the door began to close.

Walking down the passage, the figure saw the first source of light since entering the mine. The light came from a battery lantern which illuminated a large bulkhead door. The figure knock in a pattern, a code to those inside to know it's a friend.

The door opened and the figure stepped in to see men and women preforming their tasks. They turned to see the visitor but then returned to their duties once they knew who it was.

"Sister Samantha" the figure turned to the voice calling. Its was an elderly man of an average height with a good stock of gray hair wearing a mix of causal and robe clothes.

The figure removed the cloak covering her face reveling a woman in her mid to late 20s with red hair tied back in a ponytail. "It is good to see you again Father Lenard" she said.

"As it is to see you. Tell me: How is everything going in the colonies?" the Father asked, his work barely allows him to leave the safety of the hideout. The only word he gets from the outside are the wireless transmission and what the followers report.

"Its practically pandemonium. At night things calm down and people go home but come dawn the streets will be filled with people demanding and cheering for the unification of Earth into the twelve colonies. Freeing them from the lies of their evil prophets and crap.

There are those who fear the return of the Cylons with all that is happening. Adar is doing everything he can to quell them: the fleet in is on active stand-by 24/7 in case of anything, warship production is at an all time high; already there's thousands of new Vipers and Raptors, several new Strikestars and Siegestars have joined the fleet, five new Battlestars just came on-line and the two Warstars will be finish by the end of the week all of which equip with the latest technology the colonies have to offer.

And those ships and fighters will have more than enough people operating them. Applications to join the military hasn't been this high since... well the Cylon War. By now there is over a million new soldiers in the military all eagerer to bring the Thirteenth Tribe back into the fold of the gods" she finished her report with dismay in her voice.

"My God" said Bother Dacian, a short man with short hair, standing next to Father Lenard, "And I thought things couldn't be anymore troubling."

The tone in his voice suggested something else has happen. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

Suddenly the room got quiet and the atmosphere became grim. Looking around she saw many had solemn looks on their faces.

Father Lenard was the one to reply, "We received word from Mother Victoria on Gemenon a few hours ago. Two of our hideouts in Illumini were discovered and destroyed."

That is grim news indeed. With the two on Illumini that makes six hideout reveled to the colonies, four on Gemenon, one on Caprica and another on Sagittaron.

"Don't fret sister, those two weren't in use and there weren't anything inside that could give away our plans. Unfortunately because of these events our brothers and sisters on Gemenon have to go into hiding, meaning we won't be able to contact them until they know its safe. That also means that they can't be apart of the operation." he tried to sound calm but he couldn't hide his remorse.

"It makes sense when you think about it" said a voice from behind.

Turning around, Samantha saw a man in his early to mid twenties with brown unruly hair with black smudges on his face,cloths and hands which he is whipping of with a towel.

"Gemenon was the location of leadership of our predecessor, the Soldiers of the One. So its obvious that everyone is searching that planet with a fin tooth comb" he said.

"That's exactly what the council thought as well, Miles" said Father Lenard.

The Soldiers of the One were a monotheistic religious group prior to the Cylon War. Their mission was to combat the decadence and corruption in Colonial society and abolish the polytheistic religion of the Gods. To the people and government they were considered a terrorist criminal organization due to many attacks and bombing they committed around the colonies. Their leadership was based on Gemenon.

Following the events of the Cylon War and after with the unification of the twelve colonies all of its leadership and many members were either killed or executed.

Those that survived decided that change was critical if they were to continue.

Their goal remains the same with the exception of forcibly converting the populous into monotheist. Instead of terrorist acts, friends and followers are position in areas of Colonial society from government, military and civilian to help erase the corruption and, if need be, aid the organization. With the exception of a few civilian companies and industries, members restrict themselves from advancing too high in society for fear of drawing unwanted attention.

Members are recruited through a highly detailed and very covert screening process. On average 20-30 new members are recruited on each planet a year, sometimes 50-60 new followers but that's rare.

There is no real base of operation and hideouts are scattered in many location on each colony. Each planet has three leaders, called the council, in command of their assign hideouts and followers. Only 50 people can be in the same hideout at once; no two council members know the location of the same hideout and no follower knows the identity of more than one council member.

The Soldiers of the One became the League of the One (LTO); working hard to purify the twelve world from the bile in their civilization. Unfortunately, it wasn't going well.

"How is everything for the operation" asked Father Lenard.

"Our supporters have prepared everything we need. Our ship is a _Centaur-_class freighter, the Fenrir, over at the spaceport" answered Samantha.

"A _Centaur_-class? They still make those?" asked a rather perplex Miles.

"The last time I saw that class of freighter my hair was brown" commented Father Lenard.

The _Centaur-_class freighter production ceased two decades ago, it is now considered obsolete.

"The ships crew is comprised of our followers that run their own supply/cargo business. Over the last 10 weeks, they have been modifying and upgrading its systems in preparation. The crew is comprise of 21 people and they can bring 200 passengers. The captain of the ship Tyler Quaresma" she finished.

"I was hoping we could bring at least 300 people with us. But with the way security is at the moment he has to try and keep the facade" the father said.

"Father, are you sure this plan will work? Even if we bypass the defense fleet and make it to the Thirteenth Tribe's colony, what guaranty do we have that they will grant us asylum?" asked brother Dacian.

"We don't. But we have no other choice. There is nothing left for us in this system. We are putting a lot in the hopes that this works. Have faith and God won't let us down."

"And if the Liberation Fleet conquers the planet, then we'll be walking right to our deaths" said Miles.

Father Lenard let out a smile and said, "They will not. The Liberation Fleet is flying straight towards defeat." There was confidence in his voice, as if he knows that is a fact.

Samantha, Miles, and Dacian were confused and skeptical.

"You say that like its an undeniable fact. You think God will lead them to victory" she said.

Then Father did something that surprised the three.

He let out a small laugh.

"Hahaha... Trust me child, the Thirteenth Tribe doesn't need to rely on a higher power to achieve victory. From what we've uncovered, the Liberation Fleet needs to pray they don't all die in the battle."

That really confused the three.

"What do you mean by 'uncovered'?" asked Dacian.

Lenard just smiles and walked up to a makeshift stand, which were just some stacked up crates.

"Everyone gather around, there are thing to discuss" at the call, everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around him.

"Sister Samantha has just informed me that the preparations to seek refuge with the Thirteenth Tribe is ready and we can depart tomorrow. But we can only bring two hundred people on this journey."

The crowd began muttering to each other. They were scared, nervous, and agitated.

"Your fear is understandable. There are numerous ways for this operation to fail, which is why we will not force any of you to come. By attempting to seek refuge with the Earthers we are abandoning our homes, family and friends. Not an easy thing to decide.

For years we have worked in the shadows, trying to remove the greed and corruption plaguing our society to virtually no avail. Everyday it seems like the decadence entrenches itself deeper into the affairs of our worlds.

In all honesty, we of the council have talked about abandoning this pursuit and the colonies altogether for some time now" this revelation shocked the crowd, "I understand how you few, it was not easy for any of us to decide. The original plan was that we and those who chose to follow us would leave Colonial space and search for a world far from both the colonies and Cylons, a world were we could form a, hopefully, better society. But this venture would have taken years, decades to accomplish. We were beginning to lose hope in that plan. But then news of the Thirteenth Tribe came those months ago and the truth uncovered days ago." The crowd became confused by that last part. What truth was he talking about? Their curiosity peaked as they listened.

"We've all heard what Adar said about our lost brothers and sisters. That they have forgotten about the Gods and have strayed from the path of truth worshiping false deities. Of how they performed an unprovoked attack on the survey fleet in the name of the corrupt N.U.N.S government." Now the crowd really became interested. They all knew Adar's little claims of unprovoked attack was a load of horse crap. They have seen how low the higher-ups in the government would sink for their own benefits, many of them have been victims of their decadence in some way, shape, or form.

"The truth is much to the contrary." He told them the entire tale.

The meeting with the Earth commander and his peoples brief history, how it was Tong who fired the first shoot at the Terrans, got his support ships destroyed and retreated with his tail between his legs.

The crowd stood speechless with their eyes wide; Sam, Miles and Dacian had their jaws on the floor, they couldn't believe most of what they just heard.

Hundreds of worlds, a population over three times that of the colonies, claims about meeting non-human alien life took the cake but following up in second place is the fact that the survey fleet was indeed outnumbered 4-to-6 but Adar left out that the ships were small. Their size varied from a Libran Private Shuttle liner to a Virgon Repair and Salvage ship.

But what really gave them hope for the journey was that the Thirteenth Tribe had multiple religions and believe in what they call "Freedom of Religion" the ability to chose whatever faith to follow or none at all.

All of the sudden the tension in the room seem to have lifted.

"We will be departing tomorrow evening" said the Father, "Again, the choice of departing the colonies is yours and yours alone. Keep in mind that our transport can only take 200 of us, so even if all decide to come... it is not possible." Father Lenard has over 400 followers under his care.

"I must leave now to inform the others. You should all make your final preparations. Our trip will prove to be a long and stressful venture. Make sure you have all settled whatever matters with haste."

"This congregate is dispersed."

With that the Father and the followers began to back up and prepare for what many believe will be their last moments on the Twelve Colonies.

* * *

Author's Note

I apologize for the EXTREMLY long delay. I was suffering from writers block, video games, tv, comics, anime, and of course life itself.

I may have gone too deep and too specific with the Colonials development but I'm still new to this and this is how it came out to me. I didn't want them all to look like a bunch of religious idiots that would just fight a force that they have no idea about. (Though I might have made most of them look like that)

I left out a character or two cause I thought this was long enough. But don't worry we will see their input in future chapters.

Next chapter is the moment many have been waiting for: N.U.N.S. vs. Colonials. Unfortunately that also might take a while so I ask be patient.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Macross tradition, it is standard that most, if not all, fights are interlaced with music from Macross, so there will be that in the coming fight and I don't want any flames about the lyrics in the story in the future.

For Macross fans, I am writing a crossover with Mass Effect so expect that in the future.

Again I repeat: NO FLAMES. I'm looking at you HolyKnight5.

Read and Review.

Merry Christmas to all.


	4. Concert of Tellus: Interlude

I rewatched much of the first season of 'Battlestar Galactica', from the beginning with the fall of the Colonies to the Tomb of Athena on Kobol. Missed a few episode inbetween, but I did learn a few thing of the Colonials. They really are that religious being the obvious, what country needs a priest to inoculate the new President? (If I disrespect anyone from a country that does this, I apologize.)

I respect and have no problem with religion of all form -so long as they don't involve human or animal sacrifice- but watching the show, I see why it is that I hate people who take their religion to such extremes of seriousness.

I can see now that it ain't hard to believe that the Colonial government would start a war with Earth because of religion, the bulk of there government are a bunch of religious wackos and some people in the military too especially the higher up.

I also noticed in the show that there are ALOT of errors in the show that contradict much of what happens. Which I can understand, you plan a drama this big you will make some tiny errors that could effect the whole structure of the story. But I do believe that I can work some of those in my favor.

Or work past them all together and do my own thing. This is fanfic after all, I can take a few turns I made up myself no problem.

Enjoy this Interlude.

* * *

**Chapter 4 Concert of Tellus: Interlude**

**Tellus Orbit **

**Nupetiet-Vergnitzs-Class Fleet Command Battleship, Bridge**

**Colonial Fleet arrival to Tellus: 3 days ago/late **

Vice-Admiral Kyshitan Dourge stood patiently, though irritated, in front of his seat on the bridge of his newly commissioned flagship, the _Necropolis_. He has arrived in system four days ago as fast as his ships Fold drive could travel in preparation for the coming invasion force of the Colonials.

How dishearten and exasperated he was when he arrived to learn that the coming enemy has been delayed due to navigation and FTL issues.

_'All that haste to get here. Do I feel foolish.'_

Due to his overall experience in multiple pirate and Anti-UN battles he was given command of the fleet by request of the president.

A grand total of 175 ships made up the entire Tellus defense force. An additional 68 ships were in route until they had to divert course due to an Anti-UN attack on one of their industrial systems nine hours ago. They wouldn't make it in time.

Besides his ship there was also a Quiltra-Quelamitz Class Medium-Scale Gunboat and a Meltran Medium Scale Gunboat. Their trump cards.

_'At least their delay gave us time to better prepare.'_

The admiral used the extra time to formulate battle plans and possible scenarios against the Colonials. Unfortunately the knowledge on the Kobolians military logistics and battle strategies is limited to what they face during the hard contact, historical broadcast and movies about the Cylon War and their intra-wars before the Cylon rebellion.

As such a case they formulated multiple scenarios on a broad scope of probable, even improbable, course of actions the enemy could do.

_'Now all we do is wait.'_

Just as he finished that thought the sensor operator reported, "Admiral, telemetry from one of our recon probes at sector J-09 reports the Colonial Fleet just jumped in. Approximately 13.2 light years out system."

"At that range they should detect old transmission from the planet, giving them an almost perfect path to Tellus" said the vice-admiral's archivist Sezold Umelz standing besides and a step back from the admiral.

"So their next course of action would be to send their recon crafts in to map out the area for a safe jump and collect any intel on us" deduced the Admiral remaining calm and impassive as he continues to stare at the holographic projection detailing the Colonials position, their own and the distance between them displayed by the chain of satellites around the area.

The display soon showed said recon crafts have jumped into FTL and continue being track throughout the jump thanks to the cross-dimentional radar (CDR).

"All that is left is to hope the enemy falls in line with the calculated scenarios by a high margin. If so we should be able to finish this with minimal lose" his face was plain and voice was neutral, not showing any emotion just like many Zentradi of his line.

Dourge tilted his head to his side and glanced at his adviser, "Let us not get too hopeful, that's when the battle turns against you. They have had good enough time to develop ways to counter our forces and better train their soldiers against us. We mustn't underestimate their prowess and overestimate our strength" his tone was professional, reflecting his years on the battlefield.

"Agreed" he nodded in reply, "However, strategically, we still have the main advantage when comparing military intelligence and strength."

Dourge let out a small sigh, "If they are as trained as they advertise then that will only take us so far" he knew he was referring to the Valkyries battloid forms. Not only will the Colonials be unprepared when they witness their transformation; the psychological attack given their history with the Cylons will be a massive hit to their moral as well as unit cohesion. "We are still vastly outnumbered. This battle could be anyone's gain."

With a small smile, Umelz said, "Ironic of you to say that considering much of your engagement history involves the shock-and-awe approach and surprise attacks."

Just then sensor operator chimed in, "The enemy crafts have just exited into real space, just off the dark side of the moon of Lau."

"Display" Kyshitan expected to see the Colonials boxy, almost bug like shaped Raptor crafts instead what he saw resembled their dart shaped Viper fighters only these had a more streamline look and flatter height, the black color an obvious attempted blend with the darkness around it.

"Obviously a form of stealth craft" deduced Sezold.

"Confirmed, sir. Analysis shows the craft's hull are composed of a carbon composite material. They've deactivated most of their electronics and their engines are off, relaying on maneuvering thrusters and inertia for movement. They obviously think they're invisible but we can see them clearly."

_'There was no intelligence on them having any form of stealth technology. They've been busy' _thought Kyshitan, "They may have not been what we were expecting but that doesn't change anything. We will begin Phase 1. Inform all ships and ground forces" his voice was calm but demanded obedience and carried authority.

"Yes, sir."

The order was carried out to all ships in the fleet. Kyshitan glared at the screen, still displaying the six fighters who trespassed into their territory with only one thought.

_'Let us begin.'_

* * *

**Stealthstar Recon Squad**

His hands were getting a cramp from gripping the control stick too hard. He was also sweating but he wasn't hot, the cockpit remained cold thanks to the every cold state of space. So why was he sweating, he was nervous. More nervous then he was when he was sent to spy over the Armistice Line in the prototype stealthstar.

Not a memory anyone would want resurfacing during a mission like this, but he couldn't help see the similarities to that and what he is doing now.

After two deep breathes he flip his comms on and ordered a check in from the other pilots. Receiving all green from the pilots he recited their orders. They all knew of course but as the CAG, it part of his job to repeat the mission objectives as may times as necessary till he deems it enough, "Alright nuggets" he kept his voice normal but spoke to them like a drill sergeant would to a bunch of new recruits, "This is as straight forward as it gets: we drop some crows, we take some pictures of the planet and any ships in orbit, collect NAV coordinates for the fleet, then turn around and jump way. All without being seen."

"_Good thing we jumped close to a moon with no patrol anywhere in sight then"_ said the only nugget in the group.

"_Yeah, Zig Zag. We are so lucky to have jumped in so close that we almost added to the moons battered face with our own asses" _Medusa threw at the rookie pilot with her witty sarcasm.

The sound of his two stealth jocks bickering help to ease the tension he was feeling in his hands. But now was not the time for teammates to butt heads with one another.

"Save it for when you two are back in the colonies. Streak, drop the first crow" he orders to another of his wingman.

"_First crow is out and way, Bulldog."_

He saw Streak's stealthstar launch the first of twelve crow spy probes above him from his right side.

The Colonial Spy Satellite Probe, called Crow, was designed and built practically in tandem with the second generation Stealthstar. Undetectable to even the most advance and sensitive DRADIS system, the crow can lay in space for days gathering intelligence before traversing to the local star were it remains in safe orbit or to a preprogrammed coordinate. At which point it will activate its retrieval beacon and await for pick up.

"We deploy them in order, people" said Bulldog, "Streak, Medusa, Comet, myself, Mace, and Zig Zag. Clear?" confirmations was their reply.

"_I see the planet coming up on the moon's horizon" _announced Comet.

"You all heard her, time to go silent. Engines cold, lights off and wireless quiet. Use maneuvering thruster only and record as much as you can. The moment I signal or if we are spotted, we jump back to the fleet. Acknowledge?" he commanded.

With confirmations all around, the six spies came around the moon and maneuvered to the planet ahead. Bulldog took in the planet in detail. It seems slightly smaller than any of the Twelve Colonies, the size of Thanotos or Phoebe in the home system but can obviously support life.

The planet rotated at an average speed from what he could tell and he made out two large green and brown continent connected by a stretch of land with a few smaller islands dotting the blue ocean. From his position the planet looked like it had more land than sea but he couldn't account for the topography on the other side of the planet.

He took a closer look at the landmass with the camera at the highest magnification it had, taking pictures as he did.

Still too far.

He needed to get closer and it was taking to long going by the crafts own inertia. He activated the aft maneuvering thrusters to close the distance quicker. He looked for his group to see if they were following his lead. He saw his two wingmen, Comet and Mace, to his side giving a short wave of the hand that he could make out via what little light there was to produce their silhouette. Above him and a few yards back he saw a stealthstar that was upside down -from his perspective- that he couldn't make out who the pilot was due to having turned off that piece of equipment for the sake of the mission. Then the fighter used its thrusters to preform a corkscrew spin that immediately told him it was Streak.

"Wasting fuel, Streak" a smirk worked its way to Novacek's at the sight of the pilots stunt. His antics helped him cope with what he is doing now.

Ever since his first mission on the original Stealthstar to spy over the Armistice Line to Cylon space he's been more than a little hesitant to take on another spy mission. Since the last mission ended with him almost disintegrating into space dust all those years ago.

The Stealthstar project was left by the way side soon after that until contact with the Thirteenth Tribe and a nice increase in the projects budget.

The cameras mounted aft of the fighter showed him that Medusa and Zig-Zag are also keeping up in formation.

With the head count over with he returned to the main camera display. They covered enough of a distance to get a better view of the planet surface. He could make out the infrastructure of what is a seaport town or small city on the southeastern seaboard of the largest of the continents and another, smaller town port on the west side of the neighboring continent.

He soon noticed another patch of human habitation as the planet slowly turned. What he saw was a city almost as expansive as Caprica's capitol.

He didn't have time to take in all the details, just take a few pictures of it and move on to the next. The next, after some shots of the planet, being any ships in orbit.

"Lets see how many we've got" they've already past the second moon and were at a distance close enough to see whatever ship could be in orbit. He moved the cameras control around for any sign of ship traffic, even angled his fighter a few times when he couldn't tilt the camera any further direction wise.

"Hello there" after five or so minutes of search he found the ships locale. There wasn't that many ships in orbit, certainly not enough to pose much a threat to the armada waiting to arrive. He recognized some of them from the recording of the first contact battle but there were others he didn't recognize. His focus was captured when three ships came into view and one in specific left him speechless.

"... the frak" two of the ships were big, he bet Battlestar big. But even those were secondary compared to the third monster he was gawking at. It was bigger than any ship he has ever seen, even the new Warstar ships were dwarf by it. The ship was a strong green from what he sees of the dorsal section and looked completely different from the rest of the ships in orbit, minus the other one of the three. In fact, the three ships appeared a completely different design from the other ships in orbit.

"Almost alien" Bulldog said aloud, "But that's impossible" a short chuckle came out his throat still staring at the monitor.

Any other words or thought that were about to come to mind froze when a series of what looked like bluish-white tracer fire erupted just a few meters in front of him.

"SHIT!" Common sense and pilot instinct screamed at him the obvious: 'TURN ON THE DRADIS'. A command he was happy to oblige, completely abandoning silence as he turned on all the electronics.

Another series of round erupted, this time a lot closer. With the systems still booting up, he angled the stealthstar pointing nose down from where the shots were coming from and hopefully the source.

A stupid move to be sure. A rational man would just turn around and run, but how far could he get on maneuvering thrusters.

_'Might as well see what it is.' _He saw the small shaped slowly growing in the vastness. Cobalt blue shapes.

The displays around him finally lit up and the first thing he did: "TURN THE FRAK AROUND." _'Like they need the me to tell them that.' _

Already the entire wing pull a flip back and fired their engines. Bulldog looked at the timer on the dash: 14 minutes and 37 seconds. It must've taken around three minutes to cross the moon and about two minutes to get close enough for a good view of the planet. Plus the minute or two it took to spot the ships in orbit. And they were still thousands of kilometers from the world behind him.

_'What the hell have we've gotten ourselves into.' _He mulled over what was happening, how this all started, what for. Dumbest thing in this situation. He was a soldier, an officer of the fleet; he just followed order. Sure he voice his concern when something didn't sit right with him, but what could he say about this, who'd listen that could do anything.

He watched the press conference that day in the pilot's mess, Adar on the podium spouting on about the Thirteenth Tribe, the encounter, what they learned from them, what they did to the expedition. So many in the mess where riveted and enraged of what they heard. He just stared at the screen, he was taken back by what he heard but he was also skeptical. Adar wasn't on his 'preferred peoples' list.

"I never even voted for him" he spat through his clenched teeth.

The light went off signaling the FTL spooled up, finally.

All six stealthstars jumped back to their ships.

* * *

**Necropolis, Bridge**

And with that little scare, the six would-be spies jumped away to their fleet with the little amount of intel they gathered.

"The chances of them reconsidering there war effort simply because of the sight of us is virtually zero" commented Umelz.

"Making them reevaluate their goals was not the primary purpose of Phase 1" stated Dourge to which his adviser nodded in understanding.

The battle plan is laid out into well thought out steps or phases. Phase 1 is simple as it is unorthodox. They allow the Colonial recon squad to get a look at the fleet before scaring them with a few warning shots.

The objective is to instill fear into the commanding officers at the sight of the _Necropolis_ and its companion gunboats. By doing so they plant the seeds of doubt causing many of the enemy CO to become nervous and, hopefully, break under the pressure of what will be a vicious fight unlike anything they could imaging.

"Sir, Epsilon-1 is requesting orders about the probes the enemy deployed around the area" chimed the comm officer.

"Do we know what those probes are" asked the Admiral.

The holographic display changed into a deep layer scan of the colonials little gifts.

"There spy probes, sir" replied the tactical officer, "At least their attempts at one. Same material as the fighters that carried them, seems its set to record every transmission it hear although its certainly incapable of listening in on any of our comms whether military or civilians."

"Do they pose any possible threat."

"No signs of anything that could indicate a self-destruct routine. Should we destroy them, sir."

Kyshitan postulated this. The probes are of no threat to both his fleet and planet security. It would be simple to destroy them. But maybe they could be of use to them.

"Leave them be for now. If the Colonials still believe that we can't detect them, a big IF, then we could use them to our advantage later on" he said, "Recall Epsilon team back to resupply. I want everyone fully equip, no exceptions."

No doubt the Colonials will take some time after the debrief of their spies. An annoying thought.

_'It will be an irritating wait.'_

* * *

**Colonial Liberation Fleet**

**Battlestar _Pegasus_, Commanders quarters**

**3 hour later**

"I don't like this" said a worried officer with the marks of a Colonel, pacing in front of a glass desk, flipping through a collection of drafts and pictures on a clipboard.

"You've said that four times now" said an older woman sitting on a nice, slightly worn chair, not taking her eyes off the various pictures and reports on her desk.

"I'll keep saying it until ordered otherwise" the officer replied as he turned his attention from his clipboard to the many other reports and printouts on the desk. "I feel like we're walking into the nest of a fraking hydra. So please forgive me for being antsy" the sarcasm was plain there.

"Tactical put it at around 130 ships in orbit of the planet" she said reclining back in her chair, "We outnumber them 4-to-1" she gazed at her XO, waiting to hear his response.

"They also said that we've only collected enough nav data to jump us in four-to-five hundred thousand kilometers off planetary orbit. Well outside even the targeting range of our missiles and for all we know we could be well within their crosshairs" he countered, "We never got close to see any of their orbital defense systems either."

"We got a much clearer picture of what we are up against" she replied.

"From as clear as mud to clear as fog" he resorted, "We came into this with almost nothing about their strength other than that one battle and that never prepared us for this" he indicated to the shot of the 4km long green ship in the center of the fleet. "Gods knows what that thing is capable of."

She stared at the picture in question. She seen the footage from the first battle and the power of the Earthers small ships. What could that thing do? Worse did they have more? And why does it look so _alien_ is the only word she could describe it as.

"Not exactly what you signed up for, is it Jurgen?" her tone was solemn and slight depressing, trying to steer the conversation another direction.

Jurgen Belzen, middle age man, husband and father of two young girls, friend and XO to Admiral Cain for a few years clap both hand on his face and tried to rub off the stress he's been feeling for days, "Never could've imagined it, Helena. I had reasons to join the military, join the Fleet. Protect my family if the Cylons come back, a way to get off Gemenon and away of those two fundamentalist zealot I call my parents. I had my reasons and goals, like many, but going to war with the Thirteenth Tribe, against fellow humans, was certainly not on my list."

Rear Admiral Helena Cain lets out a long, audible sigh, a rare sight for an officer of her reputation to let down her guard and display a clear sign of exhaustion.

"Ain't what I signed up for either" Cain had a clear reason for joining, revenge. A very common and cliché reason for many who were orphaned after the Cylon War. Many of the senior officers in the military are either veterans of the war or orphans with no other path but the military and a desire for payback, the latter comprising the bulk of the head officers.

While some were able to put the past behind them, others like Cain couldn't. She still remember that day on Tauron, her home. The last day of the war the Cylons attack the colony, she remembers her mothers lifeless form, the smells and sound vividly. Her fathers final words to her as he slowly dies on the stairwell, _**"Helena, listen to me. You got to get your sister to the shelter. Go! You got to protect her now."**_ And she failed.

She was left alone like so many other war orphans, but she didn't stay wallowing in her depression. She worked hard, studied hard to get to her position. She did what it took but made sure it was rightfully earned, even if it means being known as the "Ice Queen of the Fleet".

"You know, the few times I've come across Tong I realized that he's the kind of man my parents would get along great with. All the incentive I need to stay away from the guy" that cut some of the tension forming as Jurgen gave a small chuckle and Cain let a smile creep her lips at his humorous -and likely true- statement.

"Least Nagala is taking everything more ardently, finally. Just got to hope its enough. I'll even pray to the Gods this doesn't go FUBAR" Cain picked up the report detailing the new battle strategy tactical whooped up only an hour ago, "Maybe you should to, Jurgen."

He didn't make eye contact for a good three seconds, "If it means getting home and putting all this behind us, I'll get on my knees and hope for the best."

_'So say we all.' _

* * *

**Tellus Orbit**

**Necropolis, Bridge**

**1 hour later**

"They're charging up their fold drives" the icons on the 3D holo-display showing the Colonials formation soon vanished from screen, "They've jumped and are heading this way, sir" said the sensor operator tracking their progress through the CDR.

Only 20 seconds after he announced, multiple bright flashes appeared nears Lau's vicinity over 430 thousand km distance off Tellus. The lights were replaced by the 500 ships of the Colonial Fleet who started to move closer to the planet before coming to a halt just 370 thousand km away and started launching their primary contingency of Vipers and Raptors. All throughout they were hitting the fleet hard with their primitive radar system.

Dourge wasted no time as he orders the fleet to form a defensive perimeter between the enemy and the planet.

Umelz made a rather pleasant looking smile as he stared at the Colonial ships, or rather their formation. "Phase 1 seemed to have had a desirable effect."

Dourge didn't respond but agreed all the same with a small and quick smirk.

The Colonials have divided their fleet into four groups. The three flotillas leading the charge were 150 ships each lead by a Warstar. One group poised to attack them on their dorsal, the second was stationed to flank them starboard side, and the third group was aiming to strike at their belly. Each ship paced a distance apart from their neighbor to not be in the way of each other or far apart to come to ones aid.

In the back of the invaders were the remaining 50 ships of their so called 'Crusade' in stationary orbit over Lau as auxiliary for the offensive force, most likely.

It was a cautionary formation and it was blatant what they were cautious about, the _Necropolis._ And they had every right to be.

"Admiral, their fighters" the sensor officer as he brought up a high-res image on the Vipers and Raptors. His concern became apparent.

The Admiral stared at the image with an analyzing glare, the crafts had on what he can only describe as, "Armor Packs?"

"We're being hailed on a... on an antiquated broadband radio signal" the comm operator stuttered in the last part. No doubt he was aware of how regressive colonial technology was compared to our, actually seeing it however was another story. He had an urge to laugh a bit.

Dourge snapped out of his train of thought and acknowledge the officer. "Lets hear what they have to say."

"_To the people of the Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol, I am Admiral Nathan Nagala of the Unified Colonial Military Navy of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. I ask you to stand down and allow us to assist you regain what you have lost. You have all been lead astray by the lies of false prophets and the oppressive government who have concealed the truth you. Let us, the people of the Twelve Colonies, your brothers and sisters, show you the truth and return you to the path of Zeus and the gods that have set out for all of humanity. _

_We do request that you hand over Captain Alphonse Carmine for he can be brought to trail for his war crimes on his unprovoked attack against BSG 46. _

_If you do not comply, I am authorized to use force. You are vastly outnumbered. Do what is right. Surrender and be reunited with your siblings."_

This was play all throughout the defense fleet and the defense force on the surface. Everyone who heard it was flabbergasted and applaud by what they just heard.

Comments were propping up among the bridge staff of the _Necropolis_.

"Is that guy serious?"

"They accuse us of attacking them!"

"And they call themselves soldiers."

"Real warriors acknowledge their actions regardless, not blame it on the victim."

"This must be what is like dealing with religious zealots."

The admiral and archivist stood in their respective spots. Sezold remained as is with the only difference being that his eyes were slightly wider than before. Admiral Dourge reaction was more apparent; his face was of slight shock with eyes as wide as he could and clenched teeth. But deep down he was controlling the urge to scream obscenities and laugh at these backwater world dwellers arrogance. Part of him wondered how Captain Carmine is taking this, especially how they 'requested' that he be turned over.

"Open a channel to those ingrates" he might as well have growled that order, it was filled with such menace and hate.

Sezold almost felt sorry for the Colonials now. Kyshitan is not someone you want to aggravate and they did just that.

* * *

**Warstar **_**Leonidas, **_**CIC**

Nagala studied the DRADIS readout, eying it like a predator. The ships orbiting the planet were at the edge of their sensor range and the DRADIS cranked up to the max output still couldn't gauge their full number. The stealth nature of the ships combined with their basic ECM made them almost invincible and creates false positive ghost contacts even with the improvements over the last 3 months.

Fortunately the new viewscreen cameras were free of such inconveniences and he could see the defense force well enough on the monitor attach to his station.

_'Another reason why these need to become standard' _he thought.

"Can you confirm that the prerecording has been received" asked XO Mendel to the comm officer.

"It was sent on every wide wireless frequency we have. They'd have to be deaf not to pick up on it" as if to confirm, "They're hailing the fleet, sir."

"On speakers" motioned Nagala.

"_Forces of the Colonies of Kobol" _the voice was powerful, practically booming on the speakers and demanded their full attention as well as respect; and there was on underline tone of anger as he spoke, _"I am Vice-Admiral Kyshitan Dourge of the Tellus Defense Force and I am appalled by the sheer guile you spout. When we first met it was us who open dialogue, it was us who sent an envoy to your ship _under_ your request, we extended a hand in friendship and cooperation, and it was you who slapped it away because of religion. _**Religion!**_ And now you intrude into our space and have the audacity to accuse us of crimes your people perpetrated._

_I give you this one warning: turn around now or you will face the full might of the New United Nations Space Agency we have at our disposal. In our first engagement we held back our true strength, you will receive no such handicap if you chose to proceed."_

The entire Liberation Fleet started talking to everyone around them. They held back? We attacked first? They're bluffing, right?

Nagala was taking mental note of what this vice-admiral was saying. Even if it was true that they didn't reveal their true strength back then, they did have numbers and the expedition force that encountered them wasn't fitted for a full engagement then. And the Colonies spent the last few months preparing for this and anything they throw.

The message continued, _"You many outnumber us but we are well beyond your league. We wage wars on a level you can't even begin to comprehend against forces that could turn all twelve of your worlds into lifeless shells in a matter of seconds. Your ships are nothing but an irritant to us, one that can be removed with ease._

_If any of you have loved one you wish to see back on which ever world you call home then I suggest you turn around back to them and be thankful you did. Those that choose to proceed with this incursion may not be as fortunate in the end._

_You have been warned." _The connection was cut leaving everyone in the CIC rather nervous and quite agitated on what to do next.

They all looked at the Admiral who pick up the phone hooked to his command and control station opening a channel fleet wide, "We will proceed as plan. First wave form up on their forward defense line. Gods speed to all." With that he returned the phone to its rest and proceeded with command.

* * *

**Authors Note**: I'm sure many of you readers noticed that in the beginning I wrote there are 175 ships but when we get to Cain's POV she says that there's only 130 ships.

I'll just say that is not a mistake and let the story answer your questions.

Oh, and I changed to time this takes place to almost two years before the fall of the Colonies.

Remember to review and that this story is far from dead.


	5. Concert of Tellus

This is gonna be my second attempted at a space battle scene, my first attempted is in my story 'Mobile Suit Star Trek' please read and review what you think of the short battle. But this will be far bigger than what I did in that fic so it will also be harder as I am a man that like to go with details.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 5, Concert of Tellus**

_**Necropolis**_**, Bridge**

Part of him hoped they would heed his warning, though he knew that was unlikely from the very start. At least his conscious can't nag him about not giving them the chance.

"Eighty ships have broken off toward the first defensive line in three groups. One going below, another attempting to flank us starboard side, the last trying to take us from above." informed the sensor officer, "Fighter contingency over 600+ units each group with over 350 heading towards our line."

He heard someone say, 'That a lot of fighters.'

"So they decided on a flanking maneuver as their opening combine with a pincer. An interesting strategy." said Umelz offhanded.

_'More like desperate' _he thought. There are so many time that he wondered if the Zem class archivist Zentradi are capable of belittling others for their ineptitude.

"Time before they are in range of the first line's solution and give me the second lines as well. And whats the predicted time till the enemy enters their effective firing range" he ordered.

"They will enter effective firing range in 6 minutes of the first line and seven minutes for the second line. We predict that it will take them over 12 minutes to enter the effective range of their guns and missiles. Enemy fighters are 9 minutes out."

"Send the first wave of Valkyrie to intercept them. Transformation authorize. If the squad leaders believe they can, they are authorized to preform hit-and-run tactics on the enemy ship but they are to remain mindful of our firing solution."

He was in his element now. His craving for battle can finally be satisfied.

"If we use our main cannon now, along with the _Sword of Honor _and _Bright Light Star, _we could annihilate over 120 ships now" advice the archivist.

"It is foolhardy to use such a tactic this early. We wait until the right moment." stated the Admiral.

* * *

**First Assault Wave, Formation 2**

**Viper Squadron**

"Any chance we can get that targeting data now, Goose?" asked the Viper squad leader.

"_You want to give this a try? Cause these guys aren't making my job easy here with their godsdamn electronic jamming. Best I got is optical confirmation that a wing of about 60 fighters are headed right for us, maybe more."_

"I'll take anything 'bout now." ECM levels skyrocketed all over them like a blizzard the moment they pushed on with the attack. Comm drones and the most advance countermeasures were doing practically nothing against it. Only short range wireless worked and only at a distance of 160 meters or less with the only way to contact their ships was via text or voice burst message, all of which took time.

DRADIS was useless up to 250 meters even with the boasted about improvements done in the last 3 months, with false echos popping up at random intervals and numbers.

Only thing that isn't effected is the optical camera equipped to the new jacket armor. Not as powerful as the one on a Raptor, it allowed him to see over 340 meters ahead of him in good detail. And with the light emitted by the planet in the background he could make out the small silhouettes of the fighters the ECO mentioned.

"Okay pilots. If they go like in the simulations they will open with a large number of guidance missiles. Spade, Goose, you two better keep a safe distance but remain in communication range just to be safe."

"_Roger that. Try not to let the extra weight kill you, Grizzly. They're at 590 and closing. I'll keep feeding you what target info I can."_

Soon the DRADIS showed that their Raptor member banking off behind them outside of the current jammed sensor range but he could see it with the camera mounted aft.

"Arm flak missiles" armed confirmations were broadcast among his wing.

Then when the enemies giant fighters got to 480 meters they released an uncountable number of missiles that immediately propelled themselves at the many Viper squadron, his included.

"FIRING MISSILES" Grizzly announced and the others followed in his league.

After reviewing footage of the first engagement with the Thirteenth Tribe, the Admiralty and bureaucrats all agreed that a method was needed to counter their massive deployment of missiles for their fighters. To that end scientist and weapons contractors developed a missile system that applied the principle of flak round for the fighters. The systems operates similar to conventional missiles but the warhead is filled with flak shards and an explosive charge that, combine with the momentum of the missile, accelerates the shard into a focused cloud of heated, serrated metal that shreds anything in its path.

The simulations proved promising with a high margin of success but there were those that avoided destruction. The flak missiles preformed as simulated and destroyed a majority of the missiles causing multiple small suns to form directly ahead; but some survived.

Many tried to out maneuver the streaks of death headed their way. Grizzly counted over 12 explosions, there were probably more he couldn't see.

Once the explosions vanished ahead he saw the blue coloring, long nose, delta wing shape of the enemy fighters. They had pods and missiles mounted on hard points on the under-wing.

Grizzly didn't notice how fast they were traveling until they blew past him, above him right when he was about to pull the trigger.

"Frak." He cut off his engine and used the thrusters of the Viper nose to flip him back to chase the fighter. Before he could complete the flip he was killed by a VF-171 that switched to GERWALK mode and reversed to deliver a pin-point barrier strengthen back slap.

The scene repeated itself throughout all three line with Valkyries switching to Battroid or GERWALK mode while others just used their AAB-7B beam cannons to attack from behind in fighter mode. The 153 NUNS pilots, benefiting off their fighters variable nature, took out over 207 Colonial craft in total in the first 2 minutes of engagement.

The surviving Vipers and Raptors were left in a state of chaos. A majority of them were in a panic at the sight of fighters turning to what they can only describe as giant Cylons. They began to scatter at random direction, lose of complete unit cohesion and regressing to their base instinct which told them to run. Those became easy targets but a few numbers of Vipers manage to keep their profession and joined up in an attempted to take down as many Valkyries as they can.

Seven Vipers chased after a Battriod mode Nightmare Plus that broke off from its squad-mate coming up on its left flank behind it shooting rounds after rounds. The machine did an impossible 100 degree turn facing them and retrieve from a container in its leg what they can only describe as a rifle scaled up to its proportions and holding it like how a human would hold one. It wasn't even noticing all the gun shots hitting it.

Out of panic, three pilots unleashed a mix of 3 flak and 4 conventional missiles. Two of the regular missiles and one flak missile were destroyed not long after being launched but before anymore were shot down the two flak missiles entered their second stage and began pelting the robot who took a defensive guard stance to better shield itself. The two remaining missiles found their mark, as the high-explosive warheads created two small suns that encompassed the machine.

"Did we get it?" the inquisitive pilot got his answer when two beams of energy erupted out of the explosion and destroyed his Viper as they all turned to confirm the kill.

The Valkyrie emerge from the explosion like a demon from Hades looking no worse for ware.

"NO FRAKING WAY!"

The hatch on the machines shoulders opened to reveal more missiles. Targeted right at them.

"EVADE!" They steered away at high acceleration as the micro-missiles raced toward them. They deployed chaff pods and flares to try confusing the ordnance but they had no affect on the missile's superior targeting program. Two more Vipers were no more while the remaining four evaded death thanks to crafty piloting skill.

The Valkyrie pilot was about to unleash a portion of his wing-mounted payload but he failed to notice the 3 flak missiles and 5 high-explosive missiles one of the Viper released on a one second time delay during its evasion attempted. The flak missiles hit first, pleating the VF's backside which had the best effect as the rockets that were about to take off from its wings were also pleated. The variable fighter was consumed in a explosion of its own weapon's make which intensified when the three of the five missiles other missiles entered the small nova. The other two missed their target and flew off.

"Gods, please tell me that did it."

They could already see pieces and parts of the machine floating out of the smoke as they passed by but they weren't taking any chances and fired a short cannon burst at the smoke. Soon they saw the giant Cylon monster that was massacring them reduce to a broken down heap of slag. It back blown wide open, arms destroyed or dismembered, and one of its legs missing.

"Thank the Gods that's over. I'm almost out of missiles and bullets and I might as well be running on fumes" the Viper pilot informed the surviving pilots, "Guessing you guys aren't any better off. Suggest we group together and resuppl-" she saw a series of strong bluish-white rounds pierce the belly of the three Vipers she was with and come out the other end causing them to erupt into fireballs.

Time seemed to slow down as another one of those giant robots appeared in front of her from below, looming over her just four feet away from the nose of the Viper. Its angular, yellow glowing mono-eye visor staring down at her.

The last thing she saw was a giant mechanical glowing fist slam down on her cockpit.

* * *

**Vega Squad, Vega-1**

"Damn it!" he slammed his fist on of the cockpit as he stares at the remains of what was once his squad-mate, "I told you to always keep moving. Never stand still. You just become an easy target."

He turned to the area of the battle. Lines of beam and tracer rounds darting back and forth at every angle with balls of flames dotting the blackness of space. He then noticed on his sensors movement headed toward the firefight from the enemy's direction.

"Enemy reinforcements. Form up and pick your targets and remember to always keep moving. They can only get a fix on us with their own eyeballs so we have an edge. USE IT!" he ordered as they headed to were the enemy reinforcements were.

* * *

**_Necropolis_, Bridge**

"They show an impressive level of skill and ingenuity" commented Umelz as he watched the dogfight, "But the inferiority of their craft and their lack of battle experience is proving a hindrance for them."

Dourge remained silent but agreed with his aid. The first part of Phase 2 worked with almost no hitch as the Valkyrie's unique abilities caught the enemy by complete surprise coupled with the psychological attack the pilots have taken out over 296 enemy fighters in 4 minutes. Of course they didn't come out of this without suffering as 27 of their own fighters were lost. A remarkable achievement given the Colonial's technology.

The advance fleets have heard word of the sudden turn of the tide and each have launched reinforcements of over 400 Vipers and over 112 Raptors and a majority of them are equipped with with nukes. That came of no surprise as they did predict that course of retaliation as the highest in many simulations.

"Inform the pilots to switch to Plan C6. How long left till their ships are in range."

"Just two minutes out of effective range but with their size they would be hard to miss if we shoot now. They're still eight minutes out of their weapons range." said the tac op.

"We will move to battle plan K12. Prep the second wave of fighters. Tell the ships to pick their targets and fire one minute after they enter our range" he started at the screen now showing the advancing ships, he took an interest in the Battlestars.

Dourge couldn't help to give a form of admirationand scoff at the ships design. As a battleship it was a sound design capable of taking a good beating and dishing out some strong hits though it wasn't much when face with energy weapons or barriers but he couldn't really hold that against them. As a carrier however it had -in his opinion- a fatal design flaw, one that he plans to take full advantage of.

"Tell them to target the Battlestars flight pods." he ordered with flat, cold professionalism.

* * *

**Tellus orbit, Battlefield**

As reinforcement fighters racing towards their comrades they were naturally taken back by the Valkyries just shifting through their three forms zipping around, doing maneuvers that wouldn't be possible for them to preform. Just as they arrived the Valkyries scattered and everyone lost sight of them.

Remnants of the first wave converged with the auxiliary force and briefed them on what exactly they faced. Much of it was obscured by sheer panic but they understood the core of it: fighters that change form and have been slaughtering them.

Much of the pilots still couldn't believe it but proof was staring them right in the face. But they brought nukes with them, they were prepared.

Now if they can only find where the enemy has gone to. Their DRADIS wasn't pinging anything but that piece of equipment has proven completely useless and their optical camera wasn't doing much good with their narrow field of vision and slow turn speed. Many pilots used their own eyes to try and catch at least a blur of movement around the area.

"Where the hell are they?"

No sooner did the question leave his mouth that seven Vipers turned into fireballs. Pilots all turned toward the direction where the shots came from and they soon spotted small group of Valkyries who immediately banked away. When they started to give chase eight more Vipers were destroyed from the opposite direction.

To avoid any chance of being caught in nuclear fire, the Valkyrie pilots joined into small strike groups and use hit-and-run attacks. One group would attack the enemy, preferably those armed with nukes, and when said enemy try to give chase another group would attack the Colonials from an opposite angle causing confusion among the enemy's formation.

Though it worked to great effect, there were still nuclear eruptions as a small number of Vipers and Raptors fired their payload into a discovered enemy formation and though they never made direct contact with the target the proximity to the explosion was all that was needed. Those that did hit was due to the more fanatics of Colonial pilots ramming their fighters into the enemy, some just detonating their nukes when they were close enough.

XXXXXXXXX

While the fighters were occupied, the advance force of the Colonial Liberation Fleet have entered range of the first and second defense line. Over 64 ships, mostly frigates, a number of cruisers, twelve Guantanamostealth carriers, five Deneb battleships and two Saratogacarriers, opened fire at the encroaching enemy.

The beam and lasers tore through the smaller class of Colonial ships at the fore front with almost no effort. Over 18 Blitzstars, 6 Strikestars and two Siegestar total disappeared from DRADIS screens in the opening salvo, the crew barely given the chance to scream as their vessels turned into burning husks. Vipers and Raptors who were flying defensive screen were either hit by the beams, caught in the explosion of their ships or manage to avoid death all together.

All of the forward force were left in shock and silence, completely baffled at the incredible range of the Earthers weapons and the damage they were causing.

In their battle three months past, their ships were well in range of the Earth ship. Scientist did theorize that the Thirteenth Tribes weapons would have better firing range than theirs but they've grossly underestimated the distance. And they were paying for it now.

Despite still being outside effective range, the Colonial opened a barrage at the defense formation in an attempt to keep the enemy off balance as oppose to let themselves get picked off without offering any resistance.

'Pitiful' was a good word for their endeavor as their accuracy varied from way-off-target to so-very-close. The round that do hit were defected by the pin-point barriers, not even straining the system. But as the ships draw closer the more accurate their aim got.

NUNS wasn't leaving it up to their ships as a second attack wave of over 120 fighters each flew at high speeds towards the enemy ships bypassing and evading the proverbial cloud of flak and cannon rounds till they were right inside their formation. Eleven units didn't make it.

Unable to mount a proper counter-assault on the enemy fighters for risk of damaging their own comrades, the Colonials had to rely on their own fighter screens till the opportune moments presented themselves.

What the Colonials don't realize is that the new wave isn't composed of ordinary 171's, these Valkyrie's are the upgraded VF-171EX with the commander units equip with super packs making them Super Nightmare Plus. And they weren't alone as flying along side the recon-variants are the QF-4000 (AIF-7S) Ghost Fighters.

Outnumbered three-to-one the Spacy pilots were not detrude by this after seeing how their superior technology and actual battle experience more than compensated. If anything the Colonials needed more fighters, which is exactly what they did as more Vipers were expelled from their launch tubes.

"All squadrons, wide missile barrage" ordered the NUNS wing commander.

The Colonials flak missiles have come to a surprise to the Spacy, among other thing. A clever albeit hazardous and out-of-place solution to their missiles. But it was easy to overcome: don't fire missiles straight ahead. The flak field created is narrow with an effective diameter of 34 meters before the burning metal cools and becomes too spread apart to be of any countermeasure for their missiles. So best go around their effective zone.

Multiple micro-missiles erupted to all sides of their corresponding Valkyrie. Left, right, above, below, all expect forward. The Viper pilots were at a lose by this until they saw the missiles began to arch in their direction.

Out of instinct the Colonial pilots broke formation to evade the fast moving ordnance creating a clear path for the Spacy forces as they continued to move to the rear of the formation ignoring the scattered enemy.

The additional boosters on their jacket armor, plus flares and decoys, did little good as the missiles were faster. Almost 40% of the first defense wave of Vipers were destroyed.

The survivors, filled with such rage and loathing than they thought was possible, turned around and raced after the fighters that caused the death of so many of their comrades. When they heard that reinforcements were deployed to from the rear ships they could barely contain their joy.

They had them surrounded.

"Unleash the Ghosts."

Or so they thought.

The twenty-five Ghost fighters broke off from the rest of the group and sought out the nearest enemy combatant. Unable to keep good track of the Ghosts, the Vipers surrounding them just disappeared in quick explosions, the number of explosions increasing every second.

XXXXXXXXX

"Whats in the name of Hera!" he was left in a daze. They had them surrounded in all direction then these smaller Earth fighters that were flying with the larger ones just scattered all around faster anything he's seen in such quick angles and tight turns that logic would dictate would result in the death of the pilot. Around him, 9 Vipers were destroyed. It was almost in sync.

Then it was right in front of him. Time slowed down and he could make out what it was. It looked as long as a Viper but the frame is bigger and a sea blue color. What got his attention was the lack of a cockpit canopy. He noticed the orange visor on top of the nose and could make out through it the lens of a camera.

One word came to mind, filling him with a new kind of dread. "A.I.!"

Last thing he saw was a flash of light.

* * *

**Colonial Liberation Fleet, Advance Formation 1**

**Wyvern Squad, Wyvern-02 **

"Christ, how may fighters did they bring", first lieutenant Béres Gan couldn't help but comment. The battle is 16 minutes in and forces have taken out practically a thousand enemy fighters in this group alone, yet they still pour out.

"_They must've filled their supply bays with them" _said ensign Nadalia Jasper floating next to Gan, _"Or these damn pods are bigger on the inside." _she pointed to the flight pod they were next to.

In the seemingly never ending swarm of Colonial fighters, their squad leader decided the divide-and-conquer approach was necessary. Him and Wyvern-03, along with Three's Ghost compatriots, would acquire the enemies attention while the other two would sneak past and preform their objective.

Which was to impede the launch/landing of their fighters, and do as much damage as possible that will either cripple or destroy the ships in the rear. Preferably the former, the President and Vice-Admiral wants POWs.

How fortunate that both he and Nadalia were right between the think hull of a Battlestar and one of its flight pods, as well as the two arms anchoring the pod and ship together.

Gan's sensors chimed showing 5 Vipers and a Raptor heading in for a landing on the pod they were adjacent to. Nadalia flew off to the rear access arm, landing on its side gently that those who heard her would likely think its debris hitting the ship and not a 50 ft tall robot about to do some serious damage.

She took aim where the arm and pod meet with her arm mounted particle cannon/30mm machine gun and 9A head mounted beam cannons. _"Ready here. Lets do this quick and rejoin with the major."_

Gan followed suit and was standing on the side of the other arm, mirroring Nadalia's stance. Together they melted and pierced the reinforced metal to the critical point. To finish off they fired three micro-missiles at their handiwork. The pod started to drift way from its ship.

On his screen, Gan saw his partner giving a small smile and he understood why. Not only did they take out an enemy fighters resupply spot but whatever gun batteries and turret emplacements positioned on the pod was removed as well. All that damage with minimal ammunition expense.

Their work didn't go unnoticed as 12 Vipers were tag on sensors heading at their direction.

With a quick double tap at the Battlestar's hull just to taunt the enemy, both pilots switched to GERWALK mode, cruising along the hull of the ship while the Vipers chased after them. They ignored the rather upset enemy as they took out gun emplacements along the way to their destinations. One to the other flight pod and one towards the engines.

* * *

**Tellus Battlefield**

Meanwhile the advance group entered the range of their weapons, an estimated two minutes ahead of prediction.

Like their fighters, the Colonials have been hard at work improving their ships as well. The best minds in the colonies focused on improving their offensive technology. They increase the range and penetration of their gun batteries, the explosive power of their missiles and the yield of their nukes to 55 megatons. Defensive wise proved difficult as they had only theories on how the Earther energy weapons functioned and principles they followed. So they were only able to improve on current ablative armor.

Any ship within the field of vision of any gun emplacement came under fire. Realizing the advantage of the enemies shield technology, the Colonials focused on saturating the enemy with combined fire. Two or three, sometimes four ships attack one Earth ship together, overpowering their shield, aiming for the exposed tower that is their CIC. When able they fired missiles from the batteries, manually aiming; their nukes mixed in set on a timer to detonate when in the estimated close proximity of the ships.

Attached fighter screens exchanged fire as Colonial Vipers and Raptors met NUNS Valkyries and Ghosts.

Two Blitzstars and a Gunstar-type Battlestar were pounding the hull of the NUNS Stealth Cruiser. The two frigate ships were parallel to the cruisers sides and the Gunstar poised virtually nose to nose. One of the Biltzstars was the first to sink being slightly damage during its race to get to range. The Battlestar moved to act as covered for its other ally as it assumes damage control. As it moved, more of its guns got better view of the enemy and the pounding got worse.

The Cruiser shots melted the reinforced armor and destroyed many of the small turrets and five of its main batteries. As per orders, the flight pods took the most beating. The Colonials now discover that their Battlestar design, a holdover of the Cylon War because of its durability and reliability and what it represents to the people, is their biggest weakness as its flight pod was torn asunder with the hanger decks opened to the cold darkness for many deckhands and pilots.

Their superior tonnage and typically overwhelming firepower barely proved of any help against this impossibly powerful foe.

Still their barrage was taxing on the much smaller NUNS ship. The intensity began to overload the barrier, weakening different areas along the hull and allowing the projectiles to impact the cruiser.

The thin but superior metal withstood the initial hits strong but the ongoing strikes were taking its toll. The surface started to warp and bend in ways it shouldn't, strips of armor began to peal off like an onion. Any missile that were likely to hit were taken out by CIWS with ease thanks to the sporadic fire since they couldn't rely on computer targeting. And any nukes detected became primary concern whether they would hit or not.

The Blitzstar emerge from underneath the Battlestar, its damage and fires now under control and ready to resume. A lucky shot passed the overwhelmed barrier, destroying one of the main batteries of the cruiser. The chain reaction that followed damaged the other battery next to it.

Its end was near.

A pillar of green energy smashed the Battlestar along its top center mass, right where its four mounted batteries were positioned. A Deneb class Battleship came from above the ships, racing to aid its besieged ally. Its fighter contingency adding to its arsenal.

The battleship didn't give the Colonial ship time to recover as it immediately switched its sight from the Gunstar's center mass to its aft were the engines are fixed.

The shot struck hard going all the way though, destroying three of its engines. The explosion that followed ignited its fuel lines causing a chain reaction that spread throughout the Battlestar. It was like popcorn trying to break out of the lid as the internal explosions pushed the metal hull outward into small, burning domes.

Finally the ship was reach its limit as the explosions grew in size and strengthen till it shattered into pieces, debris flung all round. A piece of its flight pod spiraled out-of-control right into the damaged Blitzstar.

The two ships, along with their fighter groups, didn't even stop to celebrate. The battle still waged and the Cruiser was too damage to continue on the front line.

Volunteering to take its place, the Stealth Cruiser turned back behind the line for better repairs while the Deneb Battleship prepared to take on two more ships that raced to avenge their comrades.

* * *

**Warstar **_**Leonidas, **_**CIC**

"by the gods" so low and under his breath that even in the extreme silence of the mighty behemoth command center no one could hear Nagala but himself.

Not one officer looked away from the screens displaying the battle taking place just a few thousand kilometers away. For the last few minutes they've been enthralled and terrified by what they have been witnessing that they have all just stop their respective task.

All of their efforts and resources they've committed to this battle, for this righteous war, all of it was going down the drain. It was a massacre. The only word they could describe what they were seeing. And worse they've only made a small dent in the defense wall.

Colonel Mendel finally looked away from the carnage, "Admiral", his call got Nagala's attention, "What are your orders?"

The color returned to his face and Nagala mulled over what to do next. This isn't going as planned.

"We need to enforce the attack. All ship move and rejoin with the forward fleet. Prep our nukes for full deployment, as well on Vipers and Raptors. Send a message to the reserved force, I want 12 ships to joined with the us and another 10 to join Pathweis's group. We will try to bypass their defense while Tong keeps them busy. Sortie the Stealthstar to procure coordinates for our marines to land."

The officers quickly returned to their usual operation at a greater pace. Nagala returned to the screens showing the carnage. He wish he could just make a short jump right in their formation but the godsdamn electric scrambling makes it impossible to get a fix anywhere around the planet, plus short range jumps are well known for being heavily inaccurate.

_'We must turn this around. I won't lose to these fraking heathens.' _

* * *

_**Necropolis,**_** Bridge**

"The main formations are on the move to support the advance forces in accordance to projected scenario 18. Twenty-two ships from the reserve fleet are moving into the main formations."

"Ships from formation one and three are attempting to go around the defense line. Likely following scenario 21 or 43. If latter high probability of nuclear ordnance usage in orbital bombardment."

"They've redeployed their stealth crafts. Heading takes them over the planet's western hemisphere. Eighty-three percent probability their objective is gather jump coordinates for their troop transports."

Dourge took it all in, his mind formulating their next course of action at incredible speed. They have taken out over 42 of their ships and lost only twelve of his ships to concentrated fire, nukes or collision by a Colonial officers last will of defiance.

So far the Colonials have been following the projected scenarios almost to the letter. Which is a bit of a disappointment. He expected more resourcefulness from these people. True they have demonstrated some new trick they've brought but those were barely worth revising his overall strategy. Humans have proven throughout the time he's known them to be an adaptable race, can quickly attune to a new situation at a surprising pace. But these humans were anything but the aforementioned complements.

Now is the time to spring his trap and put an end to these backwater fools little game of conquest. Too bad really. Many of the pilots were looking forward to...

"Fold transit inbound. Energy burst of identical signature to Colonial FTL drives detected on field TR12-7. Detecting three crafts of unknown make. Dimensions estimate that two are fighters and a troop transport. "

_'Unknown make. At 12-7.' _Dourge thought, "Display."

The display switched to present the area in question. There, well away from the battle were the three crafts and what stood out was that they looked nothing of Colonial design. Two of the fighters looked like crescent shaped wings that curved elegantly forward to points, almost like pincers. The other looked like a small troop transport, its shape like a curved rhomboid. The three have a rather intimidating robotic face complete with swerving red visor; the fighters in the center of their fuselage and the troop transport was poised on the right side of its bow. Their armor are made of the same material as the Colonial stealth fighters.

The face is what gave them away thanks to the intel they got from the Twelve Colonies.

_'So they've arrived. Fashionably late I believe is the term', _he let a grin form, "We will begin the final phase, time to end this struggle. Inform Sound Force that our audience has finally arrived."

* * *

**Northampton Class Frigate (Sound Force Custom)**

Located in the very rear of the defense fleet is a heavily customized frigate painted in rather striking and outlandish colors. Most of its primary weapons gone, replaced with the latest, cutting-edge music entertainment and sound energy conversion/aura amplification system the military and civilian contractors can conceive of.

In the bridge of this vessel the crew waited anxiously for their call. Their wait paid off.

"Professor! They're here." she said with a glee in her voice and a look like a mischievous child.

Sitting on the highly modified captains seat is a thin man in his seventies. His shirt and pants had several pockets all more or less filled with gadgets and doodads and other tools. He wore a white lab coat that looked like it hasn't been clean in days with all the wrinkles and stains.

His hair was white, wild and unruly. He had on retro-looking goggles with lenses that emit a whitish-blue glow and headphones shaped liked round cones complete with an old style antenna on each end.

He gave a wide smile, "HAHAHA! FINALLY! How many spectators have we got?"

"Only three. Two fighters and what seems like a troop transport" his reply mirrored his depression. He wished there were more.

"Chin up, boy. We have our audience. Doesn't matter how many at first. You just make sure they come back for more and hope they bring friends" he reassured him before turning to the tech, "Is everything in place to start?"

"Satellite systems waiting for the green light, sound energy converters and amplifiers working at maximum volume, all projectors are warmed up to go, camera drones have encompass the entire battlefield (though we did lose some), and pilots are screaming a go ahead."

"THEN WHAT ARE WE TWIDDLING AROUND HERE FOR! Let the Concert of Tellus BEGIN" he slam down on the big red button labeled 'START'.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Wow. My longest chapter EVER, thus far.

It would not surprise me if many of you readers will have trouble following what it happening. Writing a battle like this is taxing, especially when the many attraction are the fighters that can transform into giant robots and their fighting in a setting were the concept of up and down, left and right, really have no meaning in a general scope of things.

I also have to take into account and demonstrate what the Valkyries can do that normal fighters like the Vipers can never do. And they are capable of preforming a number of feats and stunts that the Colonials could never have fathom. Granted I did hold back on their performance a bit due to story reasons. I'll just say that next chapter will be quiet a performance.

I did give the Colonials something of an edge, after all they had to better prepare. But as I stated in story on Chapter 2 they did not know about the transforming part of the Valkyries. Besides does anyone actually think the Colonials can be a threat in the Macross universe?

Saw the second Frontier movie. OH MY GOD, IT WAS AWESOME! It was everything I wanted it to be and lots more, lots lots lots more. Narrowing it down to something in common with the story are the battles. They were just spectacular, and I got to put that kind spectacular into words for this fic here. Not an easy task to do and we haven't even gotten to the song yet.

Don't forget people that SMS is here. And no, its not the Frontier team, SMS is branched all throughout New UN Government space, as I also saw in the movie. THAT WAS SO AWESOME!

On a side note, I'm surprise in chapter 3 no one pointed out the scene were Adar's mug just snapped in half like that. A bad omen in Japanese culture that's been used in many anime and manga.

Leave Review please.


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